[tlug] Support for less common I/O boards

[Jim <jep200404@example.com>]

Dave M G wrote:

> I thought I had. I had researched TV tuner card support before 
> purchasing it. I came across many sites, including the Hauppage site 
> itself, which said drivers were available and watching TV in Linux with 
> a Hauppauge card was common. 

> What I am guilty of, though, is not reading deeply enough. I had naively 
> thought that "support" meant relatively straightforward installation. 
> However, it turned out that "support" meant "possible, after much effort".

Yup. 

Since most Linux users don't watch TV on their Linux box, 
there is little urgency for distros to support TV cards, 
so you got stuck with the full burden of using them. 

You didn't do bad buying an ivtv card. 

It's just the nature of using less common I/O on an OS that the 
manufacturer doesn't support, that you get stuck with the 
installation work. 

By the way, that a new kernel can break things, is scary for 
businesses, so when they settle on an OS, they want it to be 
supported for years, without major upgrades. RHEL (and Centos) 
do that. 

Jim