"You install your distro, and start working. You run into a bug and hop in the IRC support channel for said RDBMS."
Normally, you go to the distro support forums for help with the RDBMS packaged with the distro. If the distro doesn't actually support the RDBMS, and you need support, maybe you should be using a different distro. If you really want support directly from the RDBMS vendor, use a distro they support. They probably also offer paid support for other distros, where they will supply you with a distro repository for their products. Even well packaged proprietary products, like adobe flash and reader, have their own repo.
This is just another case of "you're doing it wrong".
Nvidia is *not* open source or linux. [Aside: I realize that Nvidia is probably the highest performance consumer video, but it wastes ungodly amounts of heat and power - and I avoid buying it for myself. It is reliable enough on a desktop, but all my friends with Nvidia laptops (under both Linux and Windows) have trouble with overheating while watching videos or playing games (maybe more the laptop makers fault - not leaving enough margin for the heat from Nvidia products). Personally, if it's normally low power and can play supertuxkart and DVDs without overheating and without special drivers, I'm good. ]
For older Nvidia cards, the built-in Xorg nouveau driver supports them out of the box, and even has sufficient 3D performance for my modest requirements, including gnome-shell. I would use them on a desktop.
But any problems you have with installing proprietary drivers is not a linux problem. Although it *is* a business problem if said proprietary hardware is mission critical - in that case you are better off running whatever proprietary system they support.
However, Nvidia is more and more a special case. Most hardware makers wrap all their proprietary and patented stuff in a standard interface, e.g. USB, bluetooth, SATA, etc. At some point, there will be a standard OpenGL (or successor) hardware interface, so that the latest graphics cards will not require special drivers.
Authored Comments
"You install your distro, and start working. You run into a bug and hop in the IRC support channel for said RDBMS."
Normally, you go to the distro support forums for help with the RDBMS packaged with the distro. If the distro doesn't actually support the RDBMS, and you need support, maybe you should be using a different distro. If you really want support directly from the RDBMS vendor, use a distro they support. They probably also offer paid support for other distros, where they will supply you with a distro repository for their products. Even well packaged proprietary products, like adobe flash and reader, have their own repo.
This is just another case of "you're doing it wrong".
Nvidia is *not* open source or linux. [Aside: I realize that Nvidia is probably the highest performance consumer video, but it wastes ungodly amounts of heat and power - and I avoid buying it for myself. It is reliable enough on a desktop, but all my friends with Nvidia laptops (under both Linux and Windows) have trouble with overheating while watching videos or playing games (maybe more the laptop makers fault - not leaving enough margin for the heat from Nvidia products). Personally, if it's normally low power and can play supertuxkart and DVDs without overheating and without special drivers, I'm good. ]
For older Nvidia cards, the built-in Xorg nouveau driver supports them out of the box, and even has sufficient 3D performance for my modest requirements, including gnome-shell. I would use them on a desktop.
But any problems you have with installing proprietary drivers is not a linux problem. Although it *is* a business problem if said proprietary hardware is mission critical - in that case you are better off running whatever proprietary system they support.
However, Nvidia is more and more a special case. Most hardware makers wrap all their proprietary and patented stuff in a standard interface, e.g. USB, bluetooth, SATA, etc. At some point, there will be a standard OpenGL (or successor) hardware interface, so that the latest graphics cards will not require special drivers.