Originally Posted by
phachak
As with previous versions of linux, the thing that trips me up is drivers. I know that the fault lies with many mainstream hardware makers who have still not caught on with Linux, and don't provide driver support. Anyways, installed Ubuntu on my acer laptop, couldn't get wifi to work.
I think that is part of the problem, and its exacerbated in Ubuntu. They have a very strong commitment to using only Open Source software- which is way cool- but its all they'll bundle on the CDs. Some companies, like nVidia have created great linux drivers, but they aren't open source (but are free), so nVidia doesnt bundle them. The Flash client is the same way...as are the drivers that the ndiswrapper users (thats the funky implementation of an API that allows the use of windows wifi drivers).... In a nutshell, its my sole problem with Ubuntu... its very pretty and highly functional as a desktop OS, but with out some of those proprietary apps/drivers bundled in the install, it can be a pain to get up and running, espically on a laptop with a broadcom chipset (all dells, FWIR).