Hi XFree86 dev team,
how good does ATI support you in comparison to nVidia ?
I believe the answer is "the same".
Is it only a manpower problem, that the new ATI cards based on R3xx chips are missing 3D support (I noticed that in the 4.4 release notes) ?
Or is it just because you don't get easy hardware or
developer informations from them ?
Yes and yes. Very few of the graphics chip manufacturers release any developer information at all, unless you are a proven OEM with a signed non-disclosure agreement.
A few days ago I had to call ATI hotline (where you have to pay $9.90 for phone support) because of some problems under XP...
There I mentioned, that I had the feeling that nVidia seems to support XFree86 team more than ATI, since - drivers of up to date cards have been available in earlier releases than 4.4 and - there are no restrictions concerning 3D mode
I told ATI that for me as Windows and Unix user it had nearly been a reason, not to choose the ATI card, even if I think that ATI cards have better quality and design (256Bit RAM access, 8 parallel pixel shaders, ...).
ATI seems to be interested and wants to know exactly why
I think, that nVidia seems to support XFree86 better.
This statement is way too broad. Your letter shows that one customer service agent seems to be interested. It is NOT accurate to extrapolate that to "ATI seems to be interested".
It seems for me, that this question might be a door opener
for you just for the case there exist some difficulties.
Extremely doubtful. I suspect you were seeing polite interest by a single customer service representative with no official backing from the company. He will put an appropriate note in your file and perhaps mention it at a staff meeting. Do not hope for a policy shift.
For me personally I'd love to see that you get all the informations
you need from ATI, to make drivers of same quality and "featureism"
(2D AND 3D) like the nVidia ones.
The procss of getting a full-featured driver for a new chipset is as much about good luck and coincidence as anything else. You have to have someone who (a) is an XFree86 developer, who (b) happens to acquire one of the new boards, and who (c) has the free time to invest in extending a driver to handle the new chip.
-- - Tim Roberts, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
_______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/devel
