uk, tech, rant

re: linux kernel compilation for newbies

tis cool. mad props to anyone who has got their head around it and bothered to take the time to share what they have learned with others.

but.

this is not a simple science, for various reasons. You can re-compile the (k)ubuntu kernel easily enough thanks to the wonderful forums, but that is only half the battle if you are a laptop (or modern hardware) user, and you need special (proprietery) drivers.

Now you have to go find the non-kernel stuff (nvidia, ndiswrapper, aka non open source stuff), and figure out how to make it talk nicely with your shiny new kernel.

what we need is less forum howto posts, and more auto configuration scripts that someone can download, chmod and run.

let us be blunt here:

* if you are seriously running linux, you will, sooner or later, need to re-compile your kernel to get some device/driver working
* it isn't simple, even for (many of) the vaugely tech savy

if (k)ubuntu can do it for the basic installation and configuration, then it ought to be possible to do the same for adding or updating a usb webcam driver