From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Aug 27 09:22:19 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [8.8.178.115]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5EAAA803 for ; Wed, 27 Aug 2014 09:22:19 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id EB69938BC for ; Wed, 27 Aug 2014 09:22:18 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-111-1.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.111.1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A3A3A251A9; Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:22:09 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id s7R9M9ng003950; Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:22:09 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:22:09 +0200 From: Polytropon To: atar Subject: Re: TL-WN722N support on FreeBSD. Message-Id: <20140827112209.89d0bbdb.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <5811EA5F-C819-4D1B-8D39-7C47E46FFF05@gmail.com> References: <53FC60AB.1060805@qeng-ho.org> <1EE2934C-DA78-451F-B86A-93A9C55B9C56@gmail.com> <2ACC59D6-251B-4FF7-A275-C81408D6BB48@gmail.com> <1409070456.4218.7.camel@lenzinote.lenzicasa> <5811EA5F-C819-4D1B-8D39-7C47E46FFF05@gmail.com> Reply-To: Polytropon Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 09:22:19 -0000 On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:39:56 +0300, atar wrote: > So you give me additional reason to stay with Linux and > not to migrate to FreeBSD since even a basic wireless > adapter which came with your Sony isn't supported by > FreeBSD. To be honest, I don't know if your Sony wireless > adapter is supported by Linux, but in general, I think > linux is more flexible and supports more devices than > FreeBSD (and more than all the rest of *BSD variations). Of course this is a problem in FreeBSD, and it's a known problem. There is a workaround (which isn't really helpful afterwards, but beforehand): First check if the hardware is supported, then buy it. Especially wireless devices are subject to the tricky game of "driver lottery". You will have more luck with Linux in this regards, as it covers hardware with working drivers more than any other operating system does, and usually, it keeps the support for devices that "Windows" has long dropped (if you happen to insist on using specific hardware, such as video grabber cards, DVB sticks, sound cards or other "non-mainstream" equipment). Up to this point, I was always lucky with the hardware I purchased: FreeBSD's support for WLAN components was excellent. I've been using IBM / Lenovo, Dell, Siemens- Fijutsu and Sony laptop hardware, and FreeBSD did not have any trouble getting the buildin hardware to work. Still there are models which cause problems: Some of them use chipsets not supported by current drivers, others just use f*cked up ACPI implementations, and others delegate hardware functionality to proprietary drivers which make the actual devices "appear" and "work", and as you will guess, those are only available for specific versions of "Windows". It depends on you if you want to: a) purchase other hardware to replace what is not supported, b) relapse to using Linux which supports your hardware, or c) accept that it's not working and make a better choice next time you buy something. :-) Many manufacturers are already regognizing that "Windows" usage is decreasing, and Linux support becomes more and more important to sell a device. They provide drivers or build their devices so they support existing standards. But of course hardware is evolving, and the OS needs to provide the interfaces for the new. FreeBSD isn't exactly blazing fast in this regards, but to me, never buying "the newest" for having "the newest" for few weeks (instead buying "good" in order to have "good" for several years), it doesn't really matter, so my opinion doesn't matter much. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...