[Tfug] Linux+ASUS?

[Robert Hunter]

> Does anyone have an ASUS motherboard? If so, did it come with Linux
> drivers?

About a 1.5 years ago, we bought ten of these dual-socket ASUS K8N-DRE
boards.  We're running them with Opteron 270s.  Nice boards and they work
flawlessly with 2.6.X.

http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=9&l2=39&l3=174&model=630&modelmenu=1

> I recently (3-4 months ago) got a new SLI motherboard (The P5N32-SLI
> Premium
> WiFi-AP edition), and it had Linux drivers for everything (RAID, SLI,
> audio,
> chipset, WiFi, etc.). ASUS must have done this recently, because about a
> year ago I got the ASUS P5WD2-E Premium mobo so I could play around with
> crossfire. That CD didn't have anything except for 32 and 64 bit XP
> drivers.

I would venture to say that while driver support for Linux is getting
better, particularly in the server hardware market, you still need to do
your research before making a purchase.

> Perhaps open source is really making some headway out there. In
> fact, I recall a Maximum PC (or some gaming PC magazine) telling its
> readers
> to NOT go get Vista, and instead had instructions for a basic install of
> Ubuntu (because it was the best Linux port out there for noobs).

Let's hope the trend continues. :-)

> Don't get
> me wrong; I respect commisar Gates for starting a business that
> eventually
> started taking over the world, but it will take more than a flashy
> interface
> and how many millions of extra lines of code (I heard numbers from 50-200
> million) ON TOP Of XP to impress me.

M$ has become a behemoth that cannot sustain its own mass.  Their stock
value has stagnated the past 5 years.  They are in desperate need of
expanding to different markets, and in part that's what they are hoping
to achieve with Vista.

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt

Let's hope that M$ implodes like black hole. ;-)


> it's just interesting that ASUS would ship thier motherboards
> with
> linux drivers...

Well, it might be interesting, but I'm not sure if it is the *right*
thing.  If they are distributing binary drivers with their boards, then
it violates the "open source" philosophy, and your system will be at the
mercy of their driver.  Nevertheless, for some people that might not be
as important as say getting that fancy new graphics board running.  If
the drivers are distributed in source format, they should already, or at
least eventually, be included as part of the Linux kernel.  Consider the
case of NVIDIA, who on one hand releases binary drivers for their
graphics boards, but on the other hand, release open drivers for their
chipsets to the Linux kernel.

-- 
Rob