John H. Robinson, IV wrote:
Andrew Lentvorski wrote:
Graphics support on Linux is just garbage. This is only partially the
fault of Linux. The lack of specs from nVidia and ATI cause it.
However, the Linux folks always claim "if we only had an open source
graphics chip, we'd support it like crazy.". Well, one exists. It's
the Via Unichrome chip/chipset.
Accellerated 3d graphics support is crap. Regular 3d works, 2d works.
Personally, I have few problems with graphics on XFree86/XOrg.
-john
Are you kidding me? Both Quake 4 and Doom 3 run _faster_ on Linux than
on Windows using the same graphics cards (Nvidia FX5700ti and GeForce Go
6600), on the same box with the latest drivers for each platform (XP &
W2K vs. FC3,4). Same with NeverWinter Nights (yes, I dual-boot).
Nvidia drivers are better lately, at least with Fedora Core 5: I no
longer have to recompile the driver every time I update the kernel.
I think "Accelerated 3d graphics support is crap" is a pretty broad
statement, based mostly on one user's experience with specific chipsets
used for specific applications. Personally, I'm pretty damn happy with
3d video card performance on Linux. In any case, 3d video card drivers
suck. Period. Any brand card, any OS platform. That's what happens when
there's virtually no competition. As a game player, I guarantee you'll
find far more problems getting video cards performing well in Windows
than in Linux. Been (am!) there, cussed that.
[I just replayed the original Half-life in XP. Game won't even play
anymore using the M$ DX driver without locking up the game and/or
computer. Only the OpenGL driver works.]
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BTW, someone mentioned that they could only get their Intel IPW2200 WiFi
card working after downloading a binary driver. The reason for this is
twofold:
First, FCC rules do not allow radio devices to be modified by the user
because they will then no longer be certified. That means a
closed-source driver with a public API. Intel supplies such a driver in
the form of a binary firmware image for the card, which is freely
available from their website. That driver is updated frequently (making
it probably the best supported WiFi chipset for /any/ OS platform.
Last, why is that driver not included in some distros? Well, Redhat for
one, only distributes FOSS-style-licensed software in Fedora. Intel's
firmware is under a proprietary license. For the most part M$ doesn't
ship near as many workable drivers with Windows as most any distro of
Linux. BTW, WiFi support in Windows is crude and sucks.
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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