TL-WN722N support on FreeBSD.

[Polytropon]

On Wed, 27 Aug 2014 11:39:56 +0300, atar wrote:
> So you give me additional reason to stay with Linux and
> not to migrate to FreeBSD since even a basic wireless
> adapter which came with your Sony isn't supported by
> FreeBSD. To be honest, I don't know if your Sony wireless
> adapter is supported by Linux, but in general, I think
> linux is more flexible and supports more devices than
> FreeBSD (and more than all the rest of *BSD variations).

Of course this is a problem in FreeBSD, and it's a known
problem. There is a workaround (which isn't really helpful
afterwards, but beforehand): First check if the hardware
is supported, then buy it. Especially wireless devices
are subject to the tricky game of "driver lottery". You
will have more luck with Linux in this regards, as it
covers hardware with working drivers more than any other
operating system does, and usually, it keeps the support
for devices that "Windows" has long dropped (if you happen
to insist on using specific hardware, such as video grabber
cards, DVB sticks, sound cards or other "non-mainstream"
equipment).

Up to this point, I was always lucky with the hardware I
purchased: FreeBSD's support for WLAN components was
excellent. I've been using IBM / Lenovo, Dell, Siemens-
Fijutsu and Sony laptop hardware, and FreeBSD did not
have any trouble getting the buildin hardware to work.
Still there are models which cause problems: Some of
them use chipsets not supported by current drivers, others
just use f*cked up ACPI implementations, and others
delegate hardware functionality to proprietary drivers
which make the actual devices "appear" and "work", and
as you will guess, those are only available for specific
versions of "Windows".

It depends on you if you want to:

	a) purchase other hardware to replace what is
	   not supported,

	b) relapse to using Linux which supports your
	   hardware, or

	c) accept that it's not working and make a better
	   choice next time you buy something. :-)

Many manufacturers are already regognizing that "Windows"
usage is decreasing, and Linux support becomes more and
more important to sell a device. They provide drivers or
build their devices so they support existing standards.
But of course hardware is evolving, and the OS needs to
provide the interfaces for the new. FreeBSD isn't exactly
blazing fast in this regards, but to me, never buying "the
newest" for having "the newest" for few weeks (instead
buying "good" in order to have "good" for several years),
it doesn't really matter, so my opinion doesn't matter much.



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...