LuffyJun 9, 2025

POV: Automatic Driver installation for Linux

https://lemmy.ml/post/31405814

Show threadDon_alForno

I hear it every time: But Muh Windows is better, because you dont have to install Drivers!!!11!11elf

I come from a time when you (in Windows) had to hand pick the correct driver for the individual device from a very long list of options to make anything work, not just graphics. Not just “the nvidia driver”. Think “driver for the Sapphire RTX 12345.6.7-8 pro super max whatchamacallit RGB edition with anime waifu on the backplate, manufactured between May 21st and august 15th, quality controlled by Jeff and packaged by Tony”. If your card was packaged by Bertha instead it wouldn’t work.

I feel so fucking old when I read complaints like this. Is clicking the highest version number behind the word “nvidia” considered complicated nowadays?

Jun 10, 2025 at 7:34amWeb
Show threadExperimental CyborgJun 10, 2025
No, nowadays people expect computers to be skill-less intuitive devices, like toasters. And i kind of agree with them because you need one for everything nowadays, so it makes sense for them to be usable by everyone too. Though it seems schools are also dropping the ball massively on that front.
Show threadLuffyJun 10, 2025

The problem is kind of exactly what you described

Normies are used to „run exe and it will work”, so when installing Linux most of the time they will either

  • not install any driver
  • try to run the exe
  • install the Linux driver, but from the website instead of the repos
  • or (as you described) try and install the driver, but fail at looking up which driver (nvidia has 4 of them for the rtx, gtx, and gt) they need to install