Computer technology discussions online always seem to end up in arguments with one person claiming they know more about it than the other. People should accept that there is always going to be others with greater knowledge than theirs in a specific area. We all seem to forget that when we say "I know some people who write drivers for this", we might actually be talking to one of those people.Back on the subject matter... In my oppinion Ubuntu carries alot of bloat, but if you are looking for an install-and-go version of linux then it's a worthy candidate. People looking for something that might expand their knowledge and that is more streamlined could consider a gentoo installation with fluxbox, urxvt, screen and vim - handles alot of my tasks quite easily.

QuoteOriginally posted by: nulixPeople should accept that there is always going to be others with greater knowledge than theirs in a specific area. We all seem to forget that when we say "I know some people who write drivers for this", we might actually be talking to one of those people.The relevant question is can you run Windows drivers on Linux? The answer in most cases is no. For all you people who know so much, none of you has the confidence to speak this truth. Just say it. Just say no, you can't run Windows drivers on Linux.

QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerQuoteOriginally posted by: nulixPeople should accept that there is always going to be others with greater knowledge than theirs in a specific area. We all seem to forget that when we say "I know some people who write drivers for this", we might actually be talking to one of those people.The relevant question is can you run Windows drivers on Linux? The answer in most cases is no. For all you people who know so much, none of you has the confidence to speak this truth. Just say it. Just say no, you can't run Windows drivers on Linux.Your statement in bold is absolutely false. As I said earlier if anyone has actually read this thread (nulix have another drink) the few accessories that have not simply plugged and "worked" I have made them functional by unpacking the windows driver file (unzipping the .zip) and then toying with the .inf file. For example I have an old PIII desktop that is at least 9 years old that I connected to my wireless network. The computer did not recognize the 802.11b usb wireless plugin. I made it work using the methodology I just described very easily.For the record this is one of the only devices that I actually had to toy with besides the finger scanner on my laptop which was easily resolved using thinkfinger (google it).My scanner, printer, camera just plugged in.

QuoteOriginally posted by: bostonquantFor example I have an old PIII desktop that is at least 9 years old that I connected to my wireless network. The computer did not recognize the 802.11b usb wireless plugin. I made it work using the methodology I just described very easily.You have ONE example, 1. The number between zero and two. And even your one example is suspect. I don't think you even know what happened.QuoteOriginally posted by: bostonquantFor the record this is one of the only devices that I actually had to toy with besides the finger scanner on my laptop which was easily resolved using thinkfinger (google it).Wtf does thinkfinger have to do with Windows? It is a Linux driver for some common devices. Are you saying thinkfinger would run anywhere but Linux? Like on Windows? Your total count of examples rests at 1, a suspect 1.QuoteOriginally posted by: bostonquantMy scanner, printer, camera just plugged in.You did not copy the drivers over from your Windows machine! You have no evidence the Windows drivers worked on Linux! Geez... Windows drivers do not work on Linux!

QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerQuoteOriginally posted by: bostonquantFor example I have an old PIII desktop that is at least 9 years old that I connected to my wireless network. The computer did not recognize the 802.11b usb wireless plugin. I made it work using the methodology I just described very easily.You have ONE example, 1. The number between zero and two. And even your one example is suspect. I don't think you even know what happened.It takes one example to disprove a theory which I did. I don't think you are in any position to be questioning my knowledge with your inane posts on the off-topic section and your failed business venture www.thcotner.com. I wish that website was still up I always had a few laughs looking at the pic of you and your dog while trying to solicit investors managed futures account! I told you years ago to have a pro do your marketing, obviously you didn't listen to me! The point of this thread was to talk about how Ubuntu Linux is a great substitute for windows. If you don't have anything to add or wish to continue this absolutely foolish driver debate PM me, I am 100% done here.

QuoteOriginally posted by: bostonquantIf you don't have anything to add or wish to continue this absolutely foolish driver debate PM me, I am 100% done here.If you ever want to start up again telling people they can run Windows drivers on Linux, I will be around to say otherwise.

I think what you are referring to bostonquant is a wrapper called NDISwrapper which maps the interface that the windows driver for your wifi card presents to that which the Linux kernel requires (the kernel looks for symbols like module_load to init the driver whey you morprobe/insmod it inro your kernel for example).So I'm afraid any examples you've given of loading windows drivers usually employs one of these wrapper layers rather than the windows driver working directly with the kernel so farmer is technically more correct.

QuoteOriginally posted by: nulixso farmer is technically more correct.More correct? I'm 100% correct. I remember I found one wrapper once, it worked with some tiny group of drivers for a specific purpose.

well bostonquant is correct to say that he has used a windows driver under Linux but this can only be done for specific purposes, wifi is an example. I said you are 'more correct' because, as you say, these specific cases don't imply that you can do this with any windows driver. Like I said before, it doesn't matter who knows the most about this anyway. Bq was just describing his experience with it and you were giving yours. I never understand why it always ends up in a flame war when these things are discussed online. My advice to anyone looking to try any distro or new hardware with their distro would be check to see what others experience with it on your current hardware/setup has been before deciding what to purchase.

QuoteOriginally posted by: nulixLike I said before, it doesn't matter who knows the most about this anyway. Bq was just describing his experience with it and you were giving yours. I never understand why it always ends up in a flame war when these things are discussed online.This is a forum where people come for information. It is indexed by Google! It is a mean way to waste the time and money of total strangers, to let statements stand that you can use Windows drivers on Linux!I myself have spent many days looking for Linux-version drivers. And I did find that one wrapper. And I even wasted maybe five or six hours getting inside that wrapper, and the drivers it was built for, which is the time it took me to discover it was an utter waste of my time. Yes, that wrapper is a dead end, and a false lead, and a time waster, for people looking for Windows drivers on Linux.I have purchased hardware based on 12 or 15 hours of reading on the Internet that it had a Linux driver. I then hooked it up, and discovered through an additional 30 or 40 hours of work, and international phone calls to authorities on the subject, that there was no way I could come up with a driver without writing one myself over two months!It's like you lying Linux assholes for some demented reason will never concede there is a reason to run Windows, even if your misinformation costs thousands of people like me thousands of dollars. I'd punch both of you if you were in reach.

A couple of straight statements to try and wrap this up and ensure google's precious cache contains useful information :* I don't recommend linux to everyone, only those looking for specific qualities which match up with those i know linux can provide.* NDISwrapper is not a general wrapper for getting any windows driver to work with linux, only specific wifi chipsets can be used with it* NDISwrapper is used successfully by many many people, but not everyone who tries it finds it works for them, in my experience native drivers (ones specifcally written for linux) work better if you can get hold of them.* In general windows drivers can NOT be used on linux. It's like asking can the battery from a flashlight be used in a mobile phone, it can be done in some cases, but probably not without rewiring it.* To anyone wanting to try linux I suggest you burn a copy on knoppix (google it) ubuntu live disk or another "live" distribution and boot from it (usually just leave the CD in the drive when you switch your machine on - depnding on your BIOS settings). This will give you a good idea of the user experience you can expect without having to change anything in your current setup (it won't touch your windows/mac/other os installed on the hard disk).Sorry if we've annoyed you farmer.

I have used linux since the 2.0 kernels so when I buy hardware, I do research and only buy stuff I know will work. Sometimes I gamble and try to see if that $5 webcam will work or not (usually not). I use Ubuntu at home, on a server. I prefer Ubuntu to Redhat, Fedora, SuSE, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris and XP/Vista. It's a lot faster than Vista which is one of my boot options. I "only" have 1GB of ram, so Vista is quite slow. My next linux machine will probably be an Asus EEE pc or something like it.