iirc Nvidia cant opensource thier drivers due to rights of parts their driver base being owned by outside interest ....
Cheers Dale. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick Rout" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 9:30 AM Subject: Re: Upgrading my PC, any pointers? > > On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 06:00:33 +1300 > Timothy Musson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Nick Rout, 2003-11-25 23:11:39: > > > On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:17:35 +1300 > > > Peter Elliott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > wondering about the GeForce card(s) - as in don't they use an nvidia > > > > chipset& doesn't this present problems/hassles for linux users > > > > > I say what???? nvidia drivers may be closed source, but they have > > > excellent linux suport. > > > > Oxymoron! :P > > no it is not an oxymoron. excellent linux support does not have to > equate to open source drivers. I agree OS is preferable. I am not sure > why the big 3 3d board manufacturers do not open their drivers. after > all you cannnot use the driver without buying the card. Perhaps the > details necessary to open the driver would give away too much about > their hardware details. If that is the case then they have a legitimate > concern. graphics chips are a very competitive market. > > > > [snip long quote from LJ] > > > > (Hey Nick, I'm not flaming, okay? I just disagree, so I'm saying so :^) > > > > I don't find it positive that more and more companies are jumping on the > > "Linux" bandwagon, by providing proprietary software and claiming to > > "support" me. I find it insulting and offensive. > > > > If people just go along with this kind of thing, what was the point in > > the first place? We might as well give up and switch to Microsoft, > > Apple, etc., where everything's just peachy and the following things are > > a fact of life: > > > > Lock-in, bugs you can't do anything about, misery, desolation, distrust, > > secret file formats, viruses, plagues, pimples and warts, hair-loss, > > data-loss, adware, famine, forced upgrades, lies and dishonesty, > > uncertainty, crashes, split-ends and hang-nails, spyware, death, > > restricted freedom, and dags. > > > > There's nothing positive about it. > > take a few things as given and you will see that nvidia are the best > choice (maybe the best of a bad bunch, but we are talking practicalities > here) > > premise one: the big 3 three-d manufacturers are closed source for > commercial reasons (I only have the LJ article as justification for that > statement, I am assuming it to be correct).. > > premise two: nvidia are helpful to the point that a single end user can > get hold of a nvidia engineer and solve a problem with compatibility > between an nvidia graphics card and a bleeding edge dual processor > opteron 64 bit motherboard (maybe it heklped that the single end user > was writing the "ultimate linux box" article for LJ?). also nv have, it > seems, an engineer helping linux people on online for about 50% of his > working day (source again the LJ article) > > premise three: the other 3d card manufactuers are not as helpful > > premise four: 3d graphics is desirable (not true for everyone or every > machine) > > Taking those four premises I'd say nv do have good linux support, and are > worth supporting. Taking away premise one and saying "oh but it would be > so much better if the open sourced" is not what we are talking about, we > are talking real world and in the real world it appears that premise one > remains. If someone does open source a good and cheap modern 3d chipset > then my view will change. > > i guess it comes to this rhtorical statement: whats the next best thing > to open source drivers and open specifications: a company like nvidia > that actually does help people. > > PS before a whole lot of people (in particular Volker I know you have > your views on this) comment on the nv motherboard/ethernet issues, this > conversation and my views are restricted to graphics boards. > > > > > As for drivers: hardware manufacturers making specifications available > > (i.e., to allow the development of free drivers), _that_ would be > > positive. > > > > > > see above - i guess they have secrets to protect. > > > > Tim > > -- > > Timothy Musson - [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~trmusson/ > > A day for firm decisions!!!! Or is it? > > > > -- > Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >
