Joshua Penix wrote:
On Jul 11, 2006, at 6:34 PM, DJA wrote:
Who really cares if it's a closed source driver? It works! I've had
almost no problems using nVidia cards in Linux since RH6. I have a
256MB GeForce Go 6600 in my laptop and have experienced zero problems
in Linux. It also works well enough in Linux to play FarCry.
Agreed, if gaming is a priority, then who cares. But there are people
who *do* care about openness. And there are people who have
experienced problems and have been shunned by the kernel developers due
to tainted modules.
There's never going to be complete openness in hardware. The "closed"
part of the nVidia driver is that part which talks directly to the
chipset but which has an exposed API. I believe nVidia supplies a
source-level SDK allowing you to write specifically to their cards.
That's not an unusual situation. For instance, WiFi chipsets are in the
same category. AFAIK, there is only one WiFi card with an "open" driver
and it's considered a fairly crappy and outdated chipset. Intel's
IPW2200BG WiFi chipset is at the top of the works-in-linux list and it's
closed (also triggering the kernel's "driver is tainted" warning). Intel
contributes to the development of a wrapper driver which talks to the
closed (firmware) portion of the driver.
I think this whole "Boo! on hardware makers who, in highly competitive
markets, don't open source their drivers" to be a bunch of unrealistic
pie-in-the-sky nit picking. The whole world doesn't need to be open
source. Granted, there probably isn't a whole lot of trade secret stuff
in their hardware, but you can't blame them for trying to protect what
little there is, given the short life cycles of some computer hardware
(video chips being the most prominent example).
Plus, I'm afraid "tainted" doesn't mean what you may think it means:
it's a warning Linus added to the kernel indicating that the driver is
not open source. Period. It doesn't mean it's corrupt or broken. As for
nVidia's drivers having some problems in Linux - so do ATI's (also
partially closed) drivers. In fact, most video drivers have problems.
Linux or Windows. But ATI and nVidia are the only options if you want to
play 3D games. If you don't, don't use cards designed /specifically/ for
3D games playing. Not all hardware works under all circumstances for
all applications. Nvidia's included.
As for heat, again, who cares! If you want a good performing video
chipset then heat is a given.
Not so much these days. With 90nm GPUs aimed at mobile applications,
I'd expect them not to get ridiculously hot or battery hungry. 3D
chipsets these days are so wicked good that no game uses all of the
capability.
True enough, but given that modern day top end GPU's are now more
powerful and have a higher transistor count than CPU's, they still run
damn hot.
Five years ago you could've said the same thing about laptop CPUs -
heat is a given if you want performance. But Intel's Pentium M turned
that whole equation on its head.
Agreed, but I still think that if you want a high end CPU or GPU you're
going to have to put up with both increased power and increased heat -
possibly to the point where expecting top a performing laptop to be both
fast, quiet, and cool while still being mobile is unrealistic.
[T]he new Intel-based
Apple MacBooks really open up the field of possibilities. They're
basically Apple-branded dual core Centrino machines at a fantastic
price point with the benefit that they can legally run OS X (but will
happily boot Windows or Linux as well). The only real compromise is
that they're configured with the Intel GMA950 3D chipset, which is
functional but not high-end.
Centrino is not a CPU. It's a package designation: Pentium M, Intel 855
chipset and IPW2100 or IPW2200BG Wifi chipset. If that's what Apple is
now using, then it's a big stride forward. When I last looked, Apple's
WiFi card was not supported in Linux as it's a closed driver.
BTW, I think it's a bit inconsistent to chide nVidia for supplying a
closed source driver for Linux while at the same time recommending Apple
which is also uses some closed source drivers - including nVidia's.
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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