Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> I was thinking more along the lines of "if the device you want to use 
> doesn't have Linux drivers, just write some".

And indeed you could do that, if doing so would cost less than just buying 
Windows for your machine. Remember that there might be 3 or 4 devices that 
only have Windows drivers: bill taker, coin changer, receipt printer, 
touchscreen, etc.

You, as a manager, can say "Is it worth $75/machine to try to reverse 
engineer these devices in a way that

1) they work reliably
2) they don't spit money randomly back to the user
3) it keeps working even when the manufacturer changes something,
4) and get it working by the time we need it?"

Tell me, if I handed you a piece of hardware with no documentation other 
than how to invoke the Windows device drivers, how long would it take you to 
reverse-engineer the Linux driver for it the first time? How long after the 
manufacturer changes something and updates the Windows driver before you 
know something is broken in your Linux driver?

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Serving Suggestion:
     "Don't serve this any more. It's awful."

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