VIA Announces Open Source Driver Initiative

Aron Schatz writes "VIA has announced that they will start a new site (http://linux.via.com.tw — doesn't exist yet) specifically for the development of open source drivers. From their press release: 'Over the following months, VIA will work with the community to enable 2D, 3D and video playback acceleration to ensure the best possible Open Source experience on VIA Processor Platforms. 'To further improve cooperation with the community, VIA will also adhere to a regular quarterly release schedule that is aligned with kernel changes and release of major Linux distributions. In addition, beta releases will be issued on the site as needed, and a bug report and tracking feature will also be integrated.' Nvidia should be next."

Comments

Already big in little markets

[dotancohen]

For those who don't know, the Zonbu is really a rebranded VIA Artigo: http://what-is-what.com/what_is/zonbu.html (disclosure: my site)

Year of the Linux.... portable?

[lwsimon]

We're seeing more and more VIA CPUs in Linux-based "low-end" laptops. I think this really bode well for Linux. If we establish a presence in these internet-as-an-appliance devices, we can use it as a staging point to move into the desktop market.

Re:Year of the Linux.... portable?

[malevolentjelly]

That's total BS. Once more, it is not the year of the Linux Desktop- OR portable.

It is the year of the rat:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_(zodiac)

Learn your lunar calendars, Slashdot.

Re:Year of the Linux.... portable?

[Constantine XVI]

There's a reason (two, actually)
1: VIA chips, although they aren't known for stellar performance, are usually pretty low-power (but nowhere near ARM-based stuff)
2: VIA produced something called the Nanobook, a reference design for the subsub-notebooks. Two machines have been released under this design: the Everex Cloudbook and the Packard-Bell Easynote XS

I like VIA's strategy

[$random_var]

They go out of their way to encourage the growth of an ecosystem in which their products can compete. Not too long ago I hadn't heard of any PC/laptop processors besides AMD/Intel, but thanks to VIA's encouragement of the Ultra-mobile PC market (or 'netbooks' as Intel likes to call them) they have suddenly become a player.

VIA created the nanobook reference design for mini-laptops that use their low-cost, low-power chips. Already the CloudBook has come out based on that design, and in other countries various similar laptops have been released from different distributors. Now they're stimulating essential linux development, which will continue to increase the value of their low-cost platform. This has "win" written all over it; we're all going to come out ahead thanks to their strategy.

Extend It To Crypto

[SlashdotOgre]

I hope they consider extending it to their crypto accelerator. Even low end Via boards (like the C3 I bought two years ago for $60 from newegg) include a hardware RNG and low level AES routines, and it would be cool to get some proper support. I've used Sun's crypto accelerators on their T2000's and the difference on certain algorithms is stunning.

Re:Nvidia have already open sourced what they can

[pc486]

> Intel can do it. ATI has promised to do it and now so does VIA. Why is NVidia different?

ATI hasn't just promised, they did:

http://ati.amd.com/developer/open_gpu_documentation.html
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=842&num=1

Re:Nvidia have already open sourced what they can

[dotancohen]

Intel can do it. ATI has promised to do it and now so does VIA. Why is NVidia different? Since September, ATI is really far along, to the point where the free drivers are already improving with the published specs. ATI isn't only promising, they are delivering.

Re:nVidia next?

[Kjella]

then ATI announced they were going strong on releasing their hardware specs and stuff like that opening the door for completely OSS drivers for ATI hardware. (I haven't seen anything yet, but I haven't been watching since I switched to nVidia.) Released:
2D specs for R300-R500, R600
3D specs for R300-R500
Not released:
3D specs for R600
TCore (graphics card simulation)
Might be released:
Low-end code from the fglrx driver

In short, they still haven't released the specs on their latest generation and R700 is expected sometime this year. Yes, it's a promising development but if you want the latest and greatest, it's closed source whether you go with ATI or nVidia...