Wait, you seriously are attempting to Avoid knowledge? Why would you even start this thread? Go stick your head in the sand, and then go look for some cheap labour job that doesn't require any real critical thinking or learning new skills.

There is never an excuse to avoid knowledge. If I employed someone with your attitude, they would be out the door the first chance I could legally fire them.

The way I read it, the man's not trying to literally avoid knowledge, he's trying to filter information in order to get the job done efficiently without having to spend time on things he considers irrelevant. "New skills" and "knowledge" are hardly objective notions. So, he's actually doing critical thinking right there.

I, too, would suggest going virtual if all else fails. As already pointed out, it won't work with CUDA, though (AFAIK). I wish I could provide any better tips.

[color=#CCCCCC][size=2]getting Linux to do what you want is trivial if you have the right knowledge.[/quote]
[color="#CCCCCC"]

[color=#CCCCCC][size=2]Wherein lies the crux. I know I wouldnt be ranting here if my first computer happened to have linux installed on it. Id have the 'right knowledge'. Nonetheless, windows 7 does generally 'just work'. My granny uses it. Linux has a far steeper learning curve. Thats fine; it caters to people who actually like to know how their operating system works and want to tinker with it. Im not one of them. I mean, im sure its fascinating, and given infinite time, id love to know more about it; in the same way id like to know more about the inner workings of my car, for instance. But both are tools to me, as far as getting my job done is concerned; I expect my operating system to offer some level of abstraction for interfacing with my hardware; im not looking forward to hacking it together myself. And its not what im getting paid for either.

Linux doesnt seem to offer as high-level an interface. Thats great, but claims that it 'just works' are seriously overstated, in my limited experience. Windows7 'just works'. Visual studio does. While im sure linux has changed in this direction, its not in the same ballpark.

[quote name='BronzeBeard' timestamp='1299347111' post='4782129']
Bah,

What do you want for nothing? Rubber Biscuit?

Wanting it to just work, mac: $1500.
Getting it work in a usable environment only to get spyware from a porn site, windows: $300
Pulling your head out of your ass and learning to install home-brew drivers, Linux: Priceless.

Money can buy you ease, but freedom is worth more than pennies.


Yes I will agree linux has driver issues but...
A) it's free
it's free
C) it's open, for you to fix it.
D) it's free


You learn to either work around your problems, fix it your-self, deal with it, or fork out $300 for latest windows.
That being said Ubuntu sucks, get a real man's linux like Arch or Slackware

I paid $140 for the OEM version of Win7 Pro when I built this computer. And magically it just worked. I don't spend all day looking at porn or downloading torrents so malware hasn't been an issue. I payed $700 for a Mac mini and it worked even easier then Win7. I can see if you live at home, have a crappy part time job, and lots of free time that endless screwing around with Linux might seem 'fun'. I have a fulltime job and a social life, paying money for something that works makes a lot more sense. And as was stated, "free" in the corporate world generally ends up costing a lot more then just buying something that works.
[/quote]

To clarify, I'm stating, "You get what you pay for." IF you want working drives you follow the order which I presented. (Mac, as it only works on mac hardware, Windows (99% of drivers works for) or Linux which is free.)

You have zero support from me bitching about something that is free. Did he lose time figuring out linux doesn't support his driver? Yes, but it was his time to lose. He did not pay ubuntu one dime or time for the product or service.

[color=#CCCCCC][size=2]getting Linux to do what you want is trivial if you have the right knowledge.

[color="#CCCCCC"]

[color=#CCCCCC][size=2]Wherein lies the crux. I know I wouldnt be ranting here if my first computer happened to have linux installed on it. Id have the 'right knowledge'. Nonetheless, windows 7 does generally 'just work'. My granny uses it. Linux has a far steeper learning curve. Thats fine; it caters to people who actually like to know how their operating system works and want to tinker with it. Im not one of them. I mean, im sure its fascinating, and given infinite time, id love to know more about it; in the same way id like to know more about the inner workings of my car, for instance. But both are tools to me, as far as getting my job done is concerned; I expect my operating system to offer some level of abstraction for interfacing with my hardware; im not looking forward to hacking it together myself. And its not what im getting paid for either.

Linux doesnt seem to offer as high-level an interface. Thats great, but claims that it 'just works' are seriously overstated, in my limited experience. Windows7 'just works'. Visual studio does. While im sure linux has changed in this direction, its not in the same ballpark.
[/quote]I highlighted the central concept of your post. It's not a matter of deeply specialized knowledge or extensive tinkering, but of what you're used to and of the multitude of ways of working around or getting rid of annoyanced that you accumulate by working in an environment. Windows is also hell to work with if you're used to something that works differently; just ask any smug Mac user about it. If your Windows machine BSODs you know exactly what to do about it, and you probably know how to troubleshoot a broken Windows driver - when those things happen (and yes, they happen; all the time, in fact) it's my turn to whine about horribly broken inferior operating systems. But I don't, because I realize that if I had spent the same time on W7 that I have on Debian, I would have been able to resolve the problem.

CUDA installed just fine for me on the latest Ubuntu. But then again, I'm not a retard

I can only speak with my limited experience as a student, but generally the folks in my CS department who use Windows exclusively because they failed to learn a POSIX-like environment aren't the brightest programmers or best students.

And Visual Studio "just works"? I can download most development packages with a few console commands and be trying out a new library in less than 5 minutes. While most of the folks I see using Visual Studio couldn't explain the C++ compilation model if you asked them too.

CUDA installed just fine for me on the latest Ubuntu. But then again, I'm not a retard

IAWTC. Been using it for years. I am not even remotely close to the alleged hardware guru/kernel hacker super genius you are supposed to be to use Linux.

I dunno, but the replies to this thread makes me think you're all retarded in some fashion. Typical Linux vs Windows bullshit. Closed.