Re: [aclug-L] "Winmodems" for Linux

[Jonathan Hall <jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Every household in the U.S. has a telephone line or at least has that
capability.  Thus, a modem works for anyone.

Far fewer have cablemodem access.  Some communities don't even have cable
TV access!

And ADSL, even in cities like Wichita, cannot work for everyone.  Last
estimates I heard from bell were that only 40% of Wichita would be able to
use ADSL.

Modems will not be forgotten so quickly....


On Wed, 18 Aug 1999, Bob_Deep wrote:

> Greg House wrote:
> > 
> > >For those who don't believe that a winmodem will work with Linux.
> > >Read about this in some magazine recently and decided to check it out.
> > > http://www.pctel.com/news/press8299.html
> > 
> > The next question is "Why?", given that a winmodem bogs your machine down by
> > forcing more of the functionality off of the hardware into the (host)
> > software. No thanks, I'd rather have a real modem.
> 
> Given today's avarage machine, and the computing power the system has, I
> don't think I can easily dismiss this approach...  Most machines have
> cycles to spair for this kind of thing, and cutting down the hardware
> cost, even in this way, seems good for the consumer...
> 
> Don't get me wrong though.  I too don't like this approach, and from the
> avarage Linux users point of view Winmodems are not going to be widely
> accepted, and I seriously doubt that modems are going to be arround much
> longer for most of us anyway...  With the advent of ADSL and Cable
> Modems, the avarage person will have some other means of connection
> within a few short years.  But this apporach has the advantage of being
> cheaper to make.
> 
> In the mean time... I may consider this cheaper hardware as an option...
> Even though I'd rather have a nice external, do it all modem, instead. 
> I just may not have the money, and I know I have the horsepower to spair
> on my dual P2 box :).  So I may just skimp on the modem cost, and get a
> second CPU instead...
> 
> So these modems may make sense to some linux users, and may make it
> possible to lower the retail costs of a linux ready machine even
> further.. I'm for this development although I would advise folks agnist
> it, I would not make it an absolute at this point..
> 
> -- 
>       -=  Bob =-
> Hey.. This is my mail and I charge for SPAM I receive...
> 

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  Jonathan Hall  *  jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx  *  PGP public key available
 Systems Admin, Future Internet Services; Goessel, KS * (316) 367-2487
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