What modems work with Ubuntu?

[Billy Verreynne (JW)]

Chanchao wrote:

> Ideally I would like Ubuntu to just recognize and use
> any Winmodems/softmodems it finds. It does it for all
> other hardware, so why not modems? 

Winmodems are not proper hardware. A lot of what should be done in the
hardware side, is not - and relegated to a software driver. Unlike
standard "proper" modem h/w.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winmodem for the more details.

The bottom line is that a winmodem is useless hardware without the
software driver. The driver now contains the "modem's brains" -
without the driver the modem cannot be used. Manufacturers very seldom
(never?) ships drivers for their winmodems for Linux. But they do for
Windows.

Whose problem is it? Ubuntu's? Linux?

If the hardware manufacturer selects to move processing logic from the
hardware into a software driver, and not make that driver available to
-you- for the o/s that you are running, how can it be a Linux problem?

Same applies to Windows. If you get that winmodem without a
XP/Win2K/WinME/whatever driver, it will be as useless as on Linux.
Microsoft does not supply the driver. The h/w vendor does.  So why
then expect Linux (the o/s) to support the hardware when even Windows
(the o/s) does not?


--
Billy


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