It's not really a necessary evil. You vote with your wallet.
If the video card doesn't have Linux drivers, E-Mail the manufacture and tell them they lost a potential customer. Same with anything else. I really was set on a portable Minidisc for a while but it had no Mac support; I E-Mailed Sony about it. Like a year later they began supporting Macs, but I have no idea if I was the reason
By then I had unfortunately moved onto an iPod or some Creative device though.
If the game can't run in Linux -- same deal. When I encounter a site that requires Flash on my iPad (which is very rare nowadays) I just leave it and say they don't value me enough to adhere to open standards. I did the same thing when I was a DJ in the early 90s and record companies were trying to kill vinyl (which was a necessity for any mix or scratch DJ at the time, before CD-Js and Serato). It could be the greatest record, but if it didn't show up on vinyl -- too bad -- not playing it or buying it. I
might copy it from someone though.
I bought a netbook a year and a half ago, and before even deciding I researched how well Ubuntu supported it. Price wasn't even a concern. RMS won't even use hardware unless it's open. Imagine how much that limits his choices when it comes to having the latest and greatest. It doesn't matter though, because it's his principles that come first.
