distro with good drivers?
 

hi,

i'm pretty new to linux and so tend to still switch things around a little bit.

right now i'm using ubuntu breezy 5.10.

the new unstable version (dapper) comes with great support for my prosavage8 integrated video, but i think gstreamer .10 is still broken or something, so i'm not upgrading.

also i read on a forum that the zd1211 driver (usb wifi) doesn't work (on breezy remember) and followed instructions to remove it, but i couldn't get the thing compiled.

i can follow more complicated instructions if they are clear and choices i must make are explained (i've set up gentoo a few times).

is there a distribution that will give me updated drivers that are the latest version?

thanks

Of course the answer here goes in the opposite direction..

You should purchase hardware that is well supported in Linux. The reason good drivers are not available is that some hardware manufacturers will not provide the information necessary for good drivers to be written, so some developers do the best they can reverse engineering drivers for the device without information to assist them. quite an impressive feat actually.

When you shop for hardware look at the chipsets used in everything NIC, Sound, Wifi, Video, SATA, IDE, Etc.. etc.. Search for items on teh Net before you buy them, see what other peoples experiences are with that hardware in Linux or specific distributions. If the drivers require all sorts of compiling, special kernel compile, etc.. I'lll look for another device, theres plenty of hardware out there that is high end that does not require all that effort to get functioning.

if you make good hardware choices drivers aren't an issue.

farslayer is right. However, if you already have certain hardware, then one distro may do better than another. Could be because its scripts are better, it could even be because of kernel versions or even kernel patches. More "Home User" orientated distros are more likely to have these patches, "Business" distros will focus more on stability and established hardware.

So go "Live", try LiveCDs (PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Knoppix etc) and see if they are worth installing, seeing how far they get with your hardware.

thanks,

i'll try some live cds. and some new hardware when the cheques start coming from my next work contract :-)

its either settle for maybe ram, another hd, a case and a few peripherals *AND* keep my girlfriend, *OR* get something i really want..

..guess my dream box will have to wait