🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:48:08 -0600
DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote:

> In message <20080705150255.1d79d868@realh.co.uk> Tony Houghton
> <h@realh.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> >On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:57:25 -0600
> >DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net> wrote:
> >
> >> In message <20080703152156.3be21d10@realh.co.uk> Tony Houghton
> >> <h@realh.co.uk> wrote:
> >> 
> >> >but many mainstream magazines are telling them
> >> >to avoid Vista, which is what they'll be forced to have if they
> >> >buy an off-the-shelf PC.
> >> 
> >> Okay.  So how would bundling a random distribution help?
> >
> >It wouldn't, but your argument against it seemed to be that you don't
> >want anybody to be force-fed an OS they don't want, so I pointed out
> >that most people already are.
> 
> And most of those are buying an off the shelf system anyway, so
> they'll never see what the manufacturer included in the box, so it's
> a moot point.
> 
> I still say the number of people capable of building systems, but not
> capable of downloading and burning a LiveCD is infinitesimal at best.

Yeah, TBH I don't care whether they bundle Linux, I just took issue when
you said the reason they shouldn't was because Linux is garbage.

> >No, you install Windows with the network drivers missing and use the
> >Live CD to download the missing drivers onto your Windows drive, then
> >reboot Windows to complete the installation.
> 
> Or, install Windows with outdated network drivers from CD, get online,
> the download and install the latest drivers.
> 
> This is a heck of a lot less effort then getting a LiveCD to boot
> after Windows is finished just to run an outdated driver (the
> LiveCD's drivers will be just as outdated as anything on the Windows
> driver CD) only to download the latest drivers from there.
> 
> Using a LiveCD is a solution looking for a problem.

It doesn't matter if the LiveCD's drivers are outdated as long as they
work well enough to download what you need for Windows. IME network
driver installations for Windows tend to go fairly smoothly these days,
so I won't claim using Linux is easier and more reliable, but it does
have one advantage: you can download everything you need at once,
instead of having to wait for the network drivers before you can go and
get everything else. It can take a long time to complete a download from
Asus [1] and even longer to try and find what you need on a chipset
manufacturer's site.

> >Is that really typical? I'm surprised. 
> 
> It is across my particular cross-section of MacBook users.  Apple does
> make some damn nice hardware.

Nice in some ways, but naff in others. The quality seems disappointing
compared to what else you can get for similar prices.

[1] The last time I tried, about a week ago, the download links were
Javascript which didn't work until the entire page had downloaded, and
it took me several tries over at least an hour to get a complete page
instead of it hanging with the spinner going.

-- 
TH * http://www.realh.co.uk