We understand. There's a definite hardware stumbling block in many
instances, for a few reasons.
Many manufacturers don't see any reason to contribute (or even cooperate
with production of, at no expense to them) open source drivers
There are a significant number of devices where manufacturers have chosen
to use the OS as what amounts to an extension to their hardware (Windows
modems probably being the best known, all the devices really were was an
interface for the electronics, all the heavy lifting was done by Windows
itself), a phenomenon not uncommon with printers, and wireless units,
unfortunately
Driver development where manufacturers don't cooperate lags behind, because
reverse-engineering takes time.
However, that said, the rapid pace of development in the Linux world often
solves the problem much more quickly than one might expect. There's a
completely new "version" of most Linux distributions every 6 months. That
means that if you tried it 2 years ago, it's already been fully upgraded 4
or 5 times by now. So what didn't work then might already be fixed.
One way to solve the problem is to try to "go the other way" when using
peripherals, where possible. It's often easier to get a printer attached
and running in Linux to accept jobs from Windows, than the other way
around. A second method is to buy networked printers (for example) which
don't rely on Windows in order to print.
I know, this doesn't solve problems that you had then.
About all I can offer there, Chuck, is that in making the decision to
switch to (or to add) Linux, there's some research involved. There's a
pretty big community that's quite often willing to help, and Google often
yields easy results. Another tip is that many of the "big brands" often are
the worst for producing standardized hardware. They're quite willing to
maximize their profits by producing hardware that's so dependent on Windows
that it won't function any other way.
Just out of curiosity, wouldn't making a more secure machine for financial
transactions have been better run over a wire than wirelessly? And, from
further curiosity, what was the printer? I've had very little trouble, for
some years now, making most any printer work with Linux. There are some
notable exceptions, but many fewer over time.
On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 9:08 AM, Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> wrote:
> I guess I'd better learn some more about Raspberry Pi. On the other hand
> I tried very hard to introduce a Linux machine into my Windows LAN to be
> used as a secure financial transaction machine. Should have been easy as
> Pi. However none of the 5 or 6 distributions I tried could (out of the
> box) both communicate wirelessly AND print to a Windows printer. Only one
> could communicate wirelessly and none could print to any of my three
> Windows printers (including Mint which is supposed to be Windows
> friendly). Of course, those things can be accomplished but I was not
> willing to invest more than the several hours I already had trying to
> understand how to add the additional function. I think Linux gurus fail to
> understand the gulf between Linux and Windows even for someone as myself
> who is at least moderately computer literate.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
>
> On 12/3/2014 8:35 AM, Frank wrote:
>
>> This 'dirt cheap' old xp machine is still twice the price of a Raspberry
>> Pi.
>>
>> A raspberry pi will have HDMI output (that is in fact its only output),
>> will fit behind the TV or have a very small footprint, will operate
>> without
>> fan in absolute silence, and will be considerable cheaper to run because
>> of
>> low power requirements (it might even run on the usb output of the tv).
>>
>> And since it an up-to-date linux OS, you can even use pictures from the
>> internet (assuming you don't like XP connected anymore).
>>
>> Actually, such a picture frame is on my to-do list. I'll post some
>> pictures
>> when I'm done ;-).
>>
>> Best, Frank
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 2014-12-03 1:32 GMT+01:00 Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>
>> No sound so no HDMI required, DVI will do the job. Drive it with an old
>>> XP machine (refurb'd probably dirt cheap). Then run any kind of off the
>>> shelf software... lots and lots available. Lots and lots more like this
>>> available... $84.95 and free shipping. <http://www.computerrefurb.
>>> com/deals-of-the-day/desktop-and-tower-deals/dell-optiplex-
>>> gx520-desktop-celeron-2-53ghz-1gb-ram-40gb-hd-xp-pro/>
>>>
>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>
>>>
>>> On 12/2/2014 5:34 PM, Ian Nichols wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2 December 2014 at 22:25, Mike Lazzari <watershed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> My wife and I have enjoyed having a digital picture frame with
>>>> slideshow
>>>>
>>>>> playing in the dining room. The available frames we've had have been
>>>>> junk.
>>>>> All 3 have failed after about a year. One failed just before the 1 year
>>>>> warranty and was replaced. Replacement failed within a year too. The
>>>>> rest
>>>>> conveniently failed just outside of warranty period. Not going there
>>>>> again.
>>>>> You must think I'm a bit slow for buying three :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, small TV's are dirt cheap so I'm thinking of getting one just
>>>>> to
>>>>> play jpg's. Most of them have a usb port and will play jpg's but I'm
>>>>> not
>>>>> sure that they have a slideshow function that works without user input.
>>>>> Ideally I like to program a time period to start and run and shut down.
>>>>> Our
>>>>> old TV will play jpg's but has none of the features I want. Anyone
>>>>> have a
>>>>> new TV which will do this? I'm willing to get a "smart" TV with wifi if
>>>>> necessary. Maybe I can stream from the computer ??
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I suggest for consideration the idea of getting one with an HDMI input
>>>> (or
>>>> a cheap monitor with the same) and adding something like a Raspberry Pi
>>>> to
>>>> do the picture frame thing.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
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> _________________________________________________________________
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