[CVALE] Starting some discussion...

[Pandora]

Yay, discussion!

> How much does the success of Linux for the "average" American desktop
> user depend on the support for peripheral hardware? 

Extremely so. There are two reasons my friends are reluctant to switch to Linux. The first is their teacher assigns them to use a proprietary Microsoft program like AutoCAD that won't run in wine.  The second is that Linux installs just fine, except their monitor no longer works.... In fact, in my research of printers and scanners, I have determined that it is impossible for there not to be a conspiracy by Microsoft to prevent peripherals from working on other operating systems, because otherwise all scanners would use SANE, all printers would use Postscript, and all our video cards would support hardware accelerated OpenGL and high resolution Vesa modes.

> Will Linux benefit
> or suffer as the cost these gadgets falls, the performance of these
> gadgets improves, and the popularity of these gadgets grows?

Suffer, I'm afraid. Unless we have open specifications for this hardware, we're going to be fighting a losing, uphill battle trying to get them all working on Linux, because you can bet the industry will try its darndest to remain as secretive and incompatible as possible.  Eventually new devices will be Microsoft certified, and will require DRM to work at all, just like the way it is with automobiles.

Also we need to have fewer closed door warehouses in Taiwan, guarded by thugs with assault rifles, inside which inhumane conditions and terrible wages reign.  We need more circuit factories that are open, common knowledge and cross checked to make sure they aren't giving us a shoddy, Microsoft only product.

> What needs to change about the design of Linux or the Linux community to
> make this an easier step for manufacturers to take?

It's nothing wrong with Linux. It's pure, blatant extortion and that's that. Incompatibility is profitable, as I say, because it allows industries to clump together and multiply their profits by forming cruel monopolies. Anyone else just isn't allowed to play ball, so all the fair businesspeople end up slaves to the monopoly.  Could I go into my garage and make a video card that would plug into your computer that would display a picture on a computer monitor?  Not by a long shot! And until that barrier thins, we're going to be mistreated at every turn and things just keep getting worse.