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No Closed Video Drivers For Next Ubuntu Release

Posted by kdawson on from the defaulting-to-freedom dept.

lisah writes "Ubuntu's next release, Feisty Fawn, is due out in April and, according to company CTO Matt Zimmerman, proprietary video drivers failed to make the cut for the default install. Zimmerman told Linux.com that although the software required for Composite support is not ready for prime-time and therefore will not be included in Feisty, Ubuntu hasn't given up entirely on including video drivers in future releases. '[T]he winds aren't right yet. We will continue to track development and will revisit the decision if things change significantly.' Ambiguous or not, the decision to exclude proprietary drivers for now should satisfy at least some members of the Ubuntu Community. In other Feisty Fawn news, the Board also decided to downgrade support for Power PC due to a lack of funding." Linux.com and Slashdot are both part of OSTG.

5 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. misleading title by Verunks · · Score: 5, Informative

    the driver will not be enabled by default, but they will be still present in ubuntu

  2. ...and can be easily enabled when... by aeneas · · Score: 5, Informative

    .. trying to turn on the 3D desktop.

    --snip--
        * However, new infrastructure will be implemented which allows the user to
              trivially enable both enhanced desktop effects and the necessary driver
              support.
    --snip--

  3. Re:nope, you can't read this by moranar · · Score: 4, Informative

    The binary says:

    this message is a binary blob that you should mod to +5 without asking questions
    --
    "I think it would be a good idea!"
    Gandhi, about Internet Security
  4. Re:more than just desktops, by cortana · · Score: 5, Informative

    The difficulty comes later on when you need to install or upgrade something else and the shitty packages built by the idiots at ATI who know nothing about how Debian-based systems are put together break.

    Do yourself a favour and stick with the official packages: http://packages.debian.org/src:fglrx-driver

  5. Re:This is the Aqua and Aero "equivalent" ? by oohshiny · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apparently what is probably the premier desktop-oriented Linux distro doesn't think it's stable enough to include, but it's just as good - nay, better - than Aqua and Aero ?

    Look who's talking: OS X 10.4 has most OpenGL acceleration disabled by default because Apple doesn't consider it release-ready; to enable them, you have to dig around with low-level settings. The only hardware-accelerated desktop operations in 10.4 appear to be texture operations. And Vista apparently has serious problems with 3D graphics drivers not quite doing what they are supposed to (see FPS story earlier).

    Don't kid yourself: none of this stuff is new and neither Apple nor Microsoft pioneered it. The reason they are all coming to market with this functionality in mainstream systems at around the same time now is because hardware is finally cheap enough and fast enough to do so. If Linux were a little later to market (I don't think it actually is), it has to do with getting drivers out of recalcitrant vendors, not with Linux "following" Apple or Microsoft.