On Fri, 2007-06-08 at 16:49 -0700, Tracy R Reed wrote: > kelsey hudson wrote: > > While this may be true, nVidia has said repeatedly that they don't > > *want* to be closed. nVidia's big mistake was licensing stuff from SGI. > > SGI is part-owned by Micro$oft, and Micro$oft has laid the kybosh down > > on nVidia opening up anything that has SGI IP in it. Big surprise. > > So why don't they ditch that stuff and implement some open hardware? > This just goes to the sorts of things that can happen when you make a > deal with MS. > >
To make a fast 3D OpenGL card is not for the faint of heart and takes a lot of work and expense. I was part of the Open Graphics project for a time, and I applaud the work there, but it will be a time before something like that can match the quality and performance of the big boys. OpenGL was written by SGI and was an off-shoot of the original Irix graphics library. SGI sold some of the patents for OpenGL to M$ (probably because they needed the money badly and M$ wanted to stifle OpenGL because it competes with Direct (Crap) 3D. M$ now owns, and controls, part of OpenGL. Without OpenGL, there is no 3D on anything other than M$ platforms. It goes deeper than this though. Neither NVIDIA nor ATI can safely release all the details about their cards to the world. The market is competitive enough without telling all competitors their secrets. (Now I expect to see several arguments about why they should release all kinds of info., how they can't possibly be harmed by doing so, etc. I discount all arguments by those that do not have a background in 3D hardware and software.) In addition, both may have licensed some technology for other sources (both hardware and software) such that they can not disclose revealing information. NVIDIA cards work well on Linux. They are fully programmable (down to the machine code level) and very fast. They have the best 3D support and performance in Linux. NVIDIA supports Linux unlike other mfgs. that provide drivers, but no support. I have personally worked with NVIDIA engineers to address problems in their drivers/cards with excellent response and support (right down to CVS access to un-released drivers). There is no reason to need a fully Open Source driver. The idea that the kernel is some how tainted when you use a NVIDIA driver is complete BS and there are very good reasons that the NVIDIA drivers are not completely Open Source. PGA -- The information contained in this e-mail message is confidential, intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Paul G. Allen Software Engineer BSIT/SE Quake Global, Inc. 858-277-7290 x285 -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
