Re:Linux Compatible? Quit using shitty hardware!@# (Score 2)

I'm disappointed to see this post labeled 'insightful'. People see a modem which doesn't work with Linux and immediately scream CRAPPY WINMODEM when there is a significant difference between the dsp-driven modem shipped by IBM and the winmodems shipped by 3com. It would make just as much sense for me to have been yelling WIN-TV-CARD or WIN-SCSI-ADAPTER at my hardware prior to the development of Linux drivers for them.

The winmodems have no other purpose than to be cheap. Even under windows, they are inferior to a normal modem because they offload processing onto the CPU.

The Thinkpad, OTOH, uses a DSP to drive their modem and sound (which, btw, is supported by Linux). It has to be initialized at boot-time, but does all the necessary thinking by itself. Just because there is no driver for Linux doesn't change the fact that it's a perfectly wonderful modem.

There is, of course, an issue about how much support IBM has given developers for this particular project, but please save the "cheap-ass hardware in name brand laptop" rant for elsewhere. IBM's laptops are nearly without peer in their engineering and attention to detail.