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XGI, VIA Release Open Source Drivers

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the pretty-pictures dept.

An anonymous reader writes "XGI has announced the release of open source drivers for its Volari family of graphics adapters. Efforts at X.Org to merge the new code into the head branch are already underway. Almost simultaneously, VIA has announced the immediate release of open source drivers for S3 Graphics UniChrome, VIA ProSavage and ProSavage DDR. Could these moves signal the beginning of a period of rapid improvement in Free drivers for video cards?"

7 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So what card? by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nvidia makes some pretty good cards.

    --
    Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
  2. All I know is by Progman3K · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the performance on those cards is anywhere near decent I'll be buying one.

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    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  3. Re:So what card? by Andy+Mitchell · · Score: 2, Funny

    That very much depends on your application(s) and your budget. To be honest, if all your going to do is run X Windows it really doesnt matter too much if the driver is a bit suboptimal because all modern cards are darn fast for 2D applications.

  4. Re:So what card? by MoogMan · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think what you're implying is that this release won't really make a huge effect on gamers per-se.

    But then gamers don't use linux and that old argument.

    I think the point is, there needs to be someone to slowly push graphics card manufacturers towards open source. And this (hopefully) is it. Eventually ATI and nVidia will (hopefully) follow suite.

  5. Great... by TheCoop1984 · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, in return for them being one of the first gfx card makers to release OSS driver, possibly starting an OSS revolution in the graphics card/hardware industry, we melt their web server?

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    95% of all computer errors occur between chair and keyboard (TM)
  6. Re:So what card? by gtoomey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Unichrome is mainly for motherboards with embedded graphics eg ABIT VA-20

  7. For Linux? by lofi-rev · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the download site:
    To install the driver, save any unsaved work and close all applications then click on the driver download link (above). Choose the "Save File" option and save it to your folder under Windows where you file your drivers. Unzip the file. (To unzip the file right click and highlight "Extract All") Then double click on the Setup.exe file to run the installation program. Follow the prompts and restart at the end of the installation.
    Do you need WINE installed too or something?