The Linux Modem Problem? 106
muonman asks: "There is a business in town which refurbishes old computers and distributes them to kids, roughly at cost. Part of this cost is a $5 license for Windows 98 (they do use OpenOffice, tho). I have outlined to them the benefits of migrating to Linux, but the showstopper is modems, which most of their customers require. They buy in bulk at $4 each, with unpredictable chipsets. I can find reliable(?) drivers for Smartlinks, but cant buy them for less than $6 each, and I hate to recommend the switch in suppliers without more info. I haven't had luck getting license info from linuxant for using Conexants. It seems there has been no activity on the linmodem front for some time. Any wisdom from the Slashdot crowd?"
Contact the modem manufactures for donations (Score:5, Insightful)
This is often possible for software when there's good public relations and/or a tax-writeoff.
Not much help but (Score:4, Insightful)
This isn't a flaw in the open source development method - plenty of companies don't bother supporting old devices either (or old software for that matter).
Where is the problem? (Score:4, Insightful)
+$2 modem
-$5 windows
-----------------
$3 profit
Why not just buy more expensive modems and save money at the same time.
Test them. (Score:4, Insightful)
Intel 536EP/537EP & Ambient MD3200/MD563X/MD56 (Score:2, Insightful)
A proposal (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Uh... (Score:2, Insightful)
He has to buy the modem either way so it's more like...
$0 OS + $4 modem + $6 driver (for $0 os) = $10
but seriously, if you're donating them to kids how many wanna really be stuck w/ linux? No snood, aim, kazaa and whatever else they want from download.com or where ever e-kids hang out these days. I know theirs free alternates but do they? Will these kids wanna spend 4 years learning how to use it all properly and not get r00ted in the mean time?
Re:Uh... (Score:3, Insightful)
but seriously, that's a joke, right? 4 years of learning for kids is no problem. Why give a kid a computer if not to help them better themselves? But most of all, even if it took them 4 years (which is hardly necessary--a kid could run something like Ubuntu or similar pretty much from bootup) isn't that better than the 4 minutes it will take before they are backdoored on windows 98 (not even supported by MS anymore, if I recall)? Nevermind what will happen to them when they install the likes of the festering vile that is kazaa.
Somehow I don't think that a kid who is getting a computer donated to them is spoiled enough to think that they are getting "stuck" with second rate hash simply because the os bootup doesn't say apple or microsoft. When they get to do more than they ever dreamed, they won't care about such trivialities (and yes, linux has all the toys that kids love like file sharing and media players and messengers).
If it's kids, stick with Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
If the kid gets a computer with Linux, he'll prolly get someone to put Windows on it (which Daddy/Mommy knows how to use) or just buy another computer. It's much better for Free Software and for kids to put polished OSS on a Windows box (like Open Office, Firefox, and Gimp).
I really hope Linux will get there someday. It's just that today isn't that day, and by pushing a unready product to an audience, you give it a bad reputation.
Dial-up with Linux: Plug-n-Pray (Score:3, Insightful)
Even when using PCI hardware based internal modems (such as US Robotics/3-Com modems) it's a crapshoot. Just because a modem is listed as being Linux compatible is no guarantee. Getting online depends a lot on what distro you're using.
For example, on my Linux distro test box I have a 3CP5610 internal PCI modem. It works fine with Xandros, Lycoris, and Mandrake. Knoppix can detect the modem, and dials up to my ISP but cannot truly connect (although my KPPP settings are identical to the settings in Mandrake). Mepis cannot detect the modem, even though I tell it to use ttys4.
With the rise in broadband access, modem support is becoming less of an issue. But for those needing dial-up access, what distro you use can make or break your ability to get online.
Re:If it's kids, stick with Windows (Score:2, Insightful)
Winmodems (Score:3, Insightful)
However, not all winmodems are created equal. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I believe it depends on whether or not the winmodem in question actually DOES have a controller chip and just needs proprietary drivers, as opposed to a true controllerless modem. From what I've read, the Lucent AMR modems are genuinely controllerless and thus not supported under Linux.
In a nutshell, because the term "winmodem" is a catchment word and actually describes quite a large number of different devices, you need to make sure you have reasonably intimate knowledge of which specific breed of winmodem you've got. Some will work, some won't...but again, in my experience anyway with my own chipset, both the 2.4 and 2.6 Lucent modules work well.
Of course, a standard hardware modem is always more desirable if you can get one...particularly seeing as the Lucent modules taint the kernel, which may be a problem for some people. (it doesn't particularly bother me) The advantages of winmodems however are price, greater level of availability these days from what I've seen, and marginally better throughput than their standard cousins in some instances. I'm hoping to eventually save up for a standard/external one of these days, and as I said they are more desirable if you can find/afford it...but I'm at least surviving on my Lucent right now.