30. Appendix B. Linux incompatible Hardware

Some hardware manufacturers have created devices which are compatible with MS-DOS or certain versions of Windows only. They seem to emulate part of the normally available hardware in the devices by software packages sold together with the device. Specification on these devices are not presented to the world so it is almost impossible to write drivers for these devices. Below a list of devices reported as being Linux incompatible will be given.

Simply put, it is best to avoid hardware which states things like "Needs Windows" or "Windows only".

For a list of incompatible hardware maintained by the Linux community, see the Linux Incompatibility List.