
Xkcd - Linux, a cautionary tale - nickb
http://xkcd.com/456/
======
stcredzero
Ubuntu surprised the heck out of me. I was fiddling with the Wifi to try to
get it to work when I decided I needed to download something. I connected the
machine to the router using CAT5, and Ubuntu _connected to the internet and
figured out what to do for me_. All I had to do was to tell it to proceed. Of
course, in reality, it just probed the hardware configuration and downloaded a
script someone else had figured out, but still, that was way impressive!

~~~
Prrometheus
Nice to know it does that for somebody. I'm using the x64 version of Ubuntu on
a desktop with a USB wireless peripheral. Since I installed in March I've
spent months without a functioning wireless connection and several weeks
without a functioning wired connection. Currently I have a length of cat5
cable strung out under my door, across a hallway, and into my roommate's
bedroom where the router is kept.

My Ubuntu laptop also no longer has a working wireless connection. It's
slightly older hardware (3 to 4 years) and I've given it up for dead.

I love using Ubuntu, but unless you luck out in the hardware compatibility
lottery, it is a second job to get a system up and running. I actually did not
have a functioning Ubuntu system until I quit my job and had the hours to
devote to configuring everything over a period of 3 to 4 days, and then
another 3 to 4 days when I updated to 8.04.

~~~
davidw
> unless you luck out in the hardware compatibility lottery

Try this site: <http://www.leenooks.com>

It'll show you what to avoid, with the idea being that pissed off people have
more incentive to go say "the damn thing doesn't work with Linux!" than happy
people have to go fill in some information about how everything works
smoothly.

And incidentally, if anyone wants to help hack on the Rails-based wiki that
runs it, or otherwise give me a hand with the site, I'd love the help:-)

~~~
Prrometheus
I suppose the website you link to isn't entirely useless. If I were
contemplating buying a new computer (and I am), I could check every component
of a potential computer against the list. If one component were red-listed,
then I would know that Linux would not run on that computer. I could then go
to my next choice and check every component again.

However, while lists such as these might help me weed out potential computers
that won't work, it cannot help me find one that will work. I cannot avoid the
compatibility lottery for two reasons: 1) the list is incomplete and 2)
hardware compatibility varies from distro to distro and release to release.

I suppose you could make a similar website for the last two versions of every
popular distro. Then, I could take each potential computer I was considering
purchasing and check each component's compatibility in each distro I want to
use (if one system won't work in Ubuntu 8.04, then maybe it will work in
7.10). Please note that this consumer nirvana would only work if the lists
were reasonably complete.

What I would love is a website that links to computers from major
manufacturers where the current version of a given distro works 100% after
install. Perhaps Ubuntu could link to a set of major brand desktops and
laptops that work with 7.10 and 8.04. That would be much more useful than a
list such as this: <http://tuxmobil.org/ibm.html> which isn't exactly an easy-
to-use Linux shopping guide.

~~~
davidw
I bought one of these and it works quite well:

[http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=...](http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs)

~~~
stcredzero
A coworker of mine bought one and has high praise for it. I believe he has the
1420N.

------
deathbyzen
My progression was thusly:

Day One: "Oh boy, Mandrake Linux sure is easy to install!" Day Two: "What the
hell is this 'make' bullshit?" Day Three: "I think I'll try another distro..."
Day Four: "Fuck it, I'm getting a Mac."

~~~
KirinDave
It's ironic this post is downmodded but the comic itself is upmodded.

Goes to show a valuable lesson for all aspects of life: Presentation matters.

~~~
davidw
The comic is sort of funny, but a comment about someone being scared off by
make and Linux on a site for hackers is like someone on a cooking site saying
"what's this blender bullshit, ah fuck it, I'm going out to eat".

~~~
alex_c
Wait, I thought all real hackers use Macs.

(-1, flamebait)

------
sant0sk1
I love the extra commentary when hovering over the image. It's quite often the
funniest/most intriguing part of the comic.

~~~
superchink
Awesome. Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't noticed it before your
comment.

~~~
silentbicycle
It seems to be a convention with several webcomics. I know Dinosaur Comics
(<http://chewbac.ca>) and Achewood (<http://achewood.com>) do it, too.

------
LogicHoleFlaw
Back in late '99 early '00 I was given a retail boxed copy of SuSE Linux 6.2.
Between that and Slashdot (believe it or not) I ended up on a path that took
me to working with Unix professionally and programming on Free Software
stacks. I learned C and compilation and kept going on up the chain.

The personal growth and achievement which was spurred by my introduction to
Linux has just been phenomenal.

------
tx
Hm... I look at this as a history lesson. I jumped on Linux wagon fairly late,
in 2006. Since then I had to install it on 4 laptops and 3 desktops, with
minor hiccups related to wireless and video: nothing that Google couldn't
solve.

And I never had to recompile the kernel. In fact, the only software I _ever_
had to compile on Linux was mine (I did compile my own builds of a few apps,
but only because I wanted to enable some "experimental" features not available
in standard repositories).

An isomorphic Windows comic would be about computer virus eating your cat or a
pop-ups window bumping your grandma in the forehead.

------
joshwa
Reminds me of <http://xkcd.com/349/>

~~~
unalone
That one is just way too close to reality for comfort.

------
Tichy
I am beginning to think the creation of xkcd cartoons could be automated. Just
place some random stick figures, and use any one of the million computer
poetry generators to fill the bubbles.

~~~
rms
<http://www.dougshaw.com/garfield.html>

~~~
silentbicycle
Closer still: <http://www.joshmillard.com/garkov/>

~~~
jmagar
one more for this thread:

<http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/>

~~~
AndyKelley
The concept is even funnier than the actual result: _Who would have guessed
that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an
even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty
desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn
with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young
everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American
suburb._

------
biohacker42
Getting a high karma score is an addictive game. We might need to commit nickb
in a rehabilitation program some day.

~~~
nickb
I don't even care what my score is, biohacker42. I add few links each day and
stuff accumulates.

~~~
biohacker42
I don't really care to get a high Tetris score, I just play it some times,
occasionally I play for way too long. But it's not a subtle obsession or
anything. I can quit any time.

------
Lammy
OK then <http://www.isxkcdshittytoday.com/>

------
mroman
From my own experience as a GNU/Linux NOOB, I believe that if you research the
hardware and the distro you want to run in relation to that hardware BEFORE
you purchase, you will be fine. Sticking to the Intel chipsets (as I believe
Linus himself recommended) will go a long way toward a smooth experience. And
that's coming from a noob. I am on my first Ubuntu install on my soon to be
old machine. I just built a new machine, and Hardy installed without a
problem. Ran my 24 hour burn in test, no problems. So a diligent noob can
indeed have a smooth experience provided he/she does his/her homework.

~~~
eru
No problem with AMD here. (But that does not mean it's save.)

~~~
mroman
Oh absolutely, the machine I am on now (soon to be old machine) runs an AMD
CPU, with an SIS chipset (not the greatest for GNU/Linux) yet I was diligent,
and . . . it works! Have been running Feisty Fawn for almost a year, no major
problems. I suppose there was a "luck" factor there, as I bought this hardware
without researching into whether or not it was suitable for GNU/Linux.

The new machine however I carefully researched the hardware for and, no
problems there either.

Now, I am not like evangelizing for Intel products, as you can indeed run
GNU/Linux on hardware from other manufacturers yet I do find that Linus'
statement regarding their chipsets is accurate, based on my own rather smooth
experience with the 945GC Express.

------
newt0311
story of my life.

~~~
c1sc0
that's fine, but does xkcd really belong here?

~~~
rms
please not this again

~~~
eznet
Agreed. Although there has been a considerable amount of "unsuitable" material
make it to the front page of HN, there has also been a lot of pointless
citation of this unsuitable material - to the degree that it dominates
constructive dialog taking place.

HN is changing, no doubt, but as has been pointed out time and time again on
HN, if it is of interest to the community at large, it belongs. The community
is changing (undeniable) but, maybe it is that sometimes posts other than an
amazing O(N) bubble sort are also of interest...

I, for one, enjoy chuckling at XKCD - typically I just go there myself
(without the aid of a social bookmark site!), but perhaps this one is just
relevant enough to make it on HN... Or maybe I am wrong.

~~~
tialys
It seems to me though that posting something like XKCD is simply for getting
Karma. It's not like the people who read it don't already check every
monday,wednesday and friday morning... or is that just me?

~~~
whacked_new
Not just you, but I belong in the camp that never checks xkcd on my own. Not a
fan, probably never will be, but if the community thinks its interesting,
might as well. This one was indeed interesting.

~~~
silentbicycle
Anything updated periodically probably works better with RSS (subscription
model), while sites like Hacker News seem better at aggregating interesting
scattered content (and hosting the resulting discussion). There's certainly
room for overlap (e.g. "look at the interesting post on this blog, subscribe
if you like it"), but people submitting every single update as they occur will
probably detract from the signal here.

