[LUGSB] Wireless card

[Chris Wright]

On 8 Feb 2007 01:40:42 -0000, Ilya Sukhanov (dotCOMmie)
<lugsb at sukhanov.net> wrote:
>
> On 2/7/2007, "William Joseph Lahti" <wlahti at ic.sunysb.edu> wrote:
>
> >Avishay,
> >
> >Have you tried working with ndiswrapper to get your current wireless to
> >work?
>
> Ndiswrapper is evil and should be avoided at all costs.

What's evil about it? It's a security concern, if a minor one, since
any untoward code probably relies on the NT kernel and wouldn't be
supported by ndiswrapper (Linux-native binary blobs are a much greater
concern); it's a stability concern, though there are enough people
using each wireless card that that is probably minimal. As a practical
matter, it's a low-risk but uncertain means of achieving important
functionality.

Politically, if you care about that (not everyone who uses Linux cares
about OS politics), ndiswrapper is a step away from corporate hardware
support for Linux, but a step toward a universal driver format and a
means of increasing the Linux userbase.

Religiously, of course, you are entirely correct. A modern Buddha
would (and indeed has!) declared that binary drivers are the work of
Angra Mainyu, the destructive spirit. Not to mention the opinions J.R.
"Bob" Dobbs. Though according to the prophet of Enlil, the open source
movement is a source of moral decay, if not a notable one.
Unfortunately, since Emperor Norton I of America is dead, we are
unlikely to achieve a definitive answer to this conundrum.

> >What's the model of your card. Somebody could probably help you at
> >the next meeting.
> >
> >William Lahti
> >
> >On Wed, 7 Feb 2007, Avishay Traeger wrote:
> >
> >> I've pretty much given up hope on getting the wireless on my laptop to
> >> work under Linux, and am looking to buy a pcmcia card that is very well
> >> supported.  Any suggestions?
>
> Its hard to recomend specific cards since they change what chips they
> use. But I can recomend some chips and drivers.
>
> Atheros (madwifi.org) -- They have binary blobs but work nicely
> Prism (hermes/prism driver) -- Hard to find now since they are tad old
> isl (prism54.org) -- experimental drivers (older isl is supported with
> hermes/prism drivers)
> Intel IPW -- these are quite well supported, but some have binary blobs
> (ipw3945) The later of these cards are awesome when it comes to
> reception, but I don't know if they make them in PCMCIA/cardbus factor.
> Broadcom 43XX (bcm43xx.berlios.de) -- these cards are very common in
> laptops and support is so-so.
>
> For specific cards refer to these 2 sites:
> http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/#whard
> http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison
> (avoid anything that is only supported through ndiswrapper)
>
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Avishay
>
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