Re: [9fans] Broadcom drivers, yet again

["Jack Johnson" <knapjack@gmail.com>]

On 10/21/07, Philippe Anel <xigh@free.fr> wrote:
> Yes, Brad Smith did it ... and he did a great thing, but the question is how
> worth it is to do the same boring work when you can buy a fully documented
> and working hardware for less than $40 ?

My point was not to say, "Hey, they did it, so can we."  My point was
to say, "Check out the nightmare they went through building this
particular driver without documentation."

I think many folks are asking about the Broadcom because that's the
most prevalent integrated NIC now.  Buy nearly any Dell and you'll
find one.  Laptop users are screwed in general because they have
limited alternatives on both the wired and the wireless fronts
anymore.  So, though it's nice to say buy something that works (and I
agree), the ongoing struggle is the Chipset of the Week.  If you look
at the archives, ten years ago it was the integrated SCSI Chipset of
the Week, five years ago it was wireless, now it's the Broadcom.

Newbies have an expectation, even with non-commercial software now,
that they can take a random box, pop in a CD, and if they have any
problems it's likely that their display looks like crap and they can't
print (think Linux or Vista).  What might be helpful for our newbies
is to say something like hey, a Dell GX1 through GX260 should work off
the shelf, or an HP/Compaq models L through X but not V, no Sonys,
whatever.  Give everyone some arbitrary measure so when they're
eyeballing a workstation at the store or in the garage or wherever
they don't have to boot it to find out what the integrated chipset is
and whether or not it's supported.

The wiki used to do a better job in this regard, but the problem is a
wooden boat.  Too many models, user pool is too small, vendors change
their chipsets with their underwear.  But, users tend to have just two
questions in this arena: will this work with my hardware, or what
should I buy/find to work with Plan 9?

It would probably be easiest to just say it up front:

"Will Plan 9 work with my hardware?"
"Probably not all of it.  But, your mind only works with 10% of your
brain, so it's not a big deal."
"What hardware should I buy to work with Plan 9?"
"...NIC: Intel PRO/100 or PRO/1000..."
"Hey, I have that already!"
"You just saved $40."

-Jack