SupportedHardwareListProposal
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Launchpad entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/installer-for-windows
Created: 08/31/06 by Ago
Contributors: Ago
Packages affected:
Summary
There are several hardware compatibility lists available on the web, but such lists often do not give users a clear indications, and have several gray areas. Gray areas are in practice a green flag to "give it a go anyway" even when the user experience cannot be guaranteed to be satisfactory. As a result such lists, while extremely useful, might negatively affect the reputation of Linux distributions and Ubuntu in particular. The aim is to correct this situation by creating a list that draws a clear line between supported and unsupported hardware, eliminating gray areas and disincentivizing users from experimenting with hardware that has a less than satisfactory level of support. It is essential for the hardware list to have an official feeling to it, possibly with a proper certification program. This will help preserve Ubuntu's reputation and incentivize hardware manufacturers.
Rationale
With other OSes (e.g. OSX) users check if the hardware is compatible before making a purchase. Somehow the same attitude does not hold for Linux/Ubuntu, where people expect hardware to just work. If it does not, they blame Ubuntu for it, or worse, they try to fix things by themselves following guides they fetch on the web (sometimes of arguable quality). Often such guides will lead them to recompile the kernel which in turns can create all sort of other problems. All this generally spoils their experience and affects Ubuntu's reputation.
Ubuntu users should simply be educated that there exist only 2 types of hardware: supported and unsupported. If this distinction is clear, they will know what to expect in advance and orient their hardware purchases accordingly. Moreover, the certification program, will create an incentive for hardware manufacturers to have a more friendly attitude.
Implementation
The HardwareSupport wiki should evolve into a website fully dedicated to officially supported hardware, where an easily accessible list is provided which makes a clear distinction between supported and unsupported hardware.
Users should still be able to submit comments but not to alter the rating which should be assigned by a panel, composed by a dedicated team. The panel should follow some clear, predetermined criteria when assigning their rating. The judgement should be based on tests perfomed on donated hardware or alternatively on confirmed bugs/reports or using automatic client-side hardware probing software.
The webiste could well include a community portal with user comments, votes, popularity contests, reviews, bug reports (possibly redirecting to launchpad), forum (possibly redirecting to ubuntuforums)... provided that the main focus remains on the official list.
Suggested categories:
Red: Not supported
Yellow: Supported but with some (minor) missing functionality and/or proprietary drivers are required
Green: Fully supported out of the box with open source drivers
Hardware that requires manual intervention and/or with limited capabilities should simply be included in the non-supported category. On this list even yellow hardware should guarantee a more than satisfactory experience, anything less should be classified as non-supported. No gray areas. Hardware whose compatibility is unconfirmed should also be included in the non-supported category.