ReiserFS, WiFI and 3D & DVDs

Dan Goodes fedora-list at planetmirror.com
Wed Nov 12 23:41:12 UTC 2003


On Wed, 12 Nov 2003, Luis-Miguel Astudillo wrote:

> Why is :
> 3D is not as supported as in Window$, how come that it is so hard to make it work ?  You buy
> good laptop or PCs but the only work in VESA mode.  I know you'll tell me to go to this site
> and see at the manufacturers site but ATI do not provide any drivers for Linux.  The only thing
> out there are patches and more patches.  Unless you use Linux for personnal usage a business
> does not have time to look around and fiddle with the system.

I'm sure other will fill you in better than I can, but the fact is that 
ATI don't release the specs for their cards/chipsets, so it's very hard 
work to get 3D support in a lot of cards... I have a Compaq with an ATI 
mobility radeon U1, which has complete and very good 2D support in Fedora 
- they're working on 3D, but it takes time, and debugging and 
development.

> WiFi is not well supported either and many companies are demanding it.  Some airlines and
> airports are moving from horizontal cabling to WiFi.  It simply cost less.

Again, my Compaq notebook has built-in WiFi, which took a bit of setting 
up on RedHat 9, but works without a hitch in Fedora. the installer picked 
it up and chose the right driver and It Just Works (TM).

> How come DVDs are not accessible by XINE and other Media Players ?  Why is the copyright an
> issue ?  On Windows there isn't that issue so please help me understand the problem.  Too many
> library's and patches to apply so it could work properly on Linux.

Because the software to decode the DVD encryption and make them visible is 
patented technology that costs money. The open source alternative breaks 
laws in a lot of countries, but it is available if you're happy to wear 
the risks. I installed Xine and the libdvdcss package from their website, 
and it just happened cleanly.

> PS. At times Linux just feels like Win'95 with all the fiddling around.

Spare a thought for those who've been using it for many years. WHen I 
first played with linux, getting a GUI installed and working was far too 
much hard work, so I gave up and went back to Windows. Now, thanks to the 
hard work of a lot of generous people and companies, I can enjoy almost 
all the freedoms I have with Windows, without paying for it.

just my $0.02.

-Dan





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