Comment 248 for bug 85488

Calm down???? This bug is a huge deal. I've been reading the tech blog debates about Windows vs. Linux for over six months now since my conversion. Things like this bug prove the Windows' proponents point that Linux isn't ready for prime time. After all that the ubuntu devs have done to make Linux accessible to the masses and support a huge range of hardware, it's more than a shame that an entire class of hardware that was supported earlier has been knowingly excluded from that support.

I finally convinced a friend to switch to ubuntu. After having huge issues with his wifi card and scanner, he's ready to give up and go back to Windows. He uses his scanner regularly for his avocation, so its support isn't a trivial issue to him. Without scanner support, he simply cannot use Linux. Everything worked fine for him under Vista. I'm sure that there are hundreds of similar stories, especially in the business environment. The low rating of the bug and the length of time this has gone without a released fix further shows that Linux isn't ready for the mainstream desktop. The suggestion to compile our own kernel sounds like gibberish to a potential convert--you can't possibly be serious. You only get one chance to make a first impression on a new user.

It breaks my heart that after my own conversion to the penguin and my writing articles strongly encouraging users to move from Windows to Linux, ubuntu has seriously regressed. By publishing a major release that regresses so seriously, the devs have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Linux is only really suited to geeks, not to the average PC user. They have made and continue to make us Linux evangelists look like fools. Congratulations.