[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On Sunday 11 December 2005 1:39 pm, Julian Hall wrote: > 1. Had to reinstall Winblows :( which killed LILO. Reinstall > instructions tell me to use a boot disk In GNU/Linux terms, the boot disk is just the install CD. The days of a separate floppy are long gone. Most distributions can boot the first CD of the set in a rescue mode. > linux root=/dev/hda where hda is the partition the Linux install > resides on. Mine is on hda8. I used a Suse Live CD to get at the boot > prompt, entered 'linux root=/dev/hda8' and it told me it could not find > the kernel. What is going on? My normal distro is Xandros 3.0 It's possibly looking for the wrong kernel - have you got the Xandros CD? Failing that, a Debian install CD? Knoppix? > 2. Video Capture. Windows Service Pack 2 has fouled up my video > capture in Windows. I am not about to go through all the hassle of > reinstalling yet again just because Microsoft are incapable of producing > a stable product. I know I've asked this before but with Christmas > coming up it seems a good time to ask for presents ;) Can anyone > recommend a Video Capture card (doesn't have to include a tuner as I use > the cable box to view TV) which is *guaranteed* to work in Linux? Few peripherals are guaranteed to work with GNU/Linux - you are asking for too much in that regard because the original manufacturer usually does not support Linux directly so it's all about providing outline support via a more generic interface. Remember, GNU/Linux itself comes with no warranty - not even fitness for a particular purpose so GNU/Linux itself is not guaranteed to work with itself, let alone anything else. In real terms, support is down to the distribution in the first case. Xandros, being Debian based, will inherit Debian support so your first port of call is the Debian archive to see which packages are available for support and which devices those are likely to support most easily. In the final analysis, GNU/Linux could support every peripheral ever created - it's only ever a Simple Matter Of Programming . . . . . So the issue of devices working with GNU/Linux is a spectrum - from the easiest (like network cards and most internal components) through the occasionally awkward but mostly effortless like USB, the mostly awkward but somewhat usable 3D to the mostly obtuse and "go compile your own driver/toolchain" like embedded systems. :-) Nothing is *guaranteed* to work. Read the GPL. PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. ... INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. (Don't mean to shout, the GPL text itself is in block capitals.) If you want guarantees you have to pay for them. The nature of lawsuits then means that the company (usually) underwriting that guarantee will require that you surrender some of your freedoms in order to limit their liability. In terms of software, a guarantee is ALWAYS going to specify that the guarantee is null and void if you or anyone else modifies the guaranteed work or related / dependent works in any way. This makes any such software non-free so it would be ruled out of use in the main Debian (read Xandros) archive, going into non-free instead. From a company and legal standpoint, it is perfectly natural that they need to limit their liability - otherwise the costs of the insurance underwriting the guarantee will make the cost of the software prohibitive - but from a freedom perspective, legally binding guarantees are a no-go area. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
Attachment:
pgp8xG0CHNGAq.pgp
Description: PGP signature