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S3 Graphics Responds About Linux Support
V!NCENT writes "Phoronix has an update on S3's Linux driver state: 'We are doing an internal build of the Chrome 500 Linux driver to incorporate some of the additional hardware features and upgrades (over the Chrome 400 Series GPUs). If you want to test the Linux now, the Chrome 400 Series drivers also support the Chrome 500 Series since it is a unified driver architecture.'" (This after the beef that Phoronix raised about S3's failure to deliver on promises of better Linux support for the 500 series.)
It is common for companies to issue 'forward looking' statements and clueless positive outlook synergestic lies. Usually by marketing, sales and PR, they totally ignore the engineers, developers or any other employee that may actually know what the fuck they are talking about, and quite often sneer at them for 'not getting it'.
It is a syndrome that is quite common - a scientist says something like 'global warming is a problem'. Put a guy in a suit, call him a CEO or a politician, and his 'I'm confident . . .' bullshit will win almost every time.
So I simply refuse to believe ANY STATEMENT by these guys - they have ZERO credibility left.
as Bruce Perens famously said at Linux SF Con 2006, Linux is only free if your time has no value
Three years is a long time in computing years. Too bad you're missing out on everything linux has to offer nowadays. Enjoy your vendor lock-in, and don't forget, Microsoft wants you to pay the tax again in a year or so.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
These days, its sad if a hardware manufacturer doesn't support Linux. There are plenty of people literally begging for the specs of hardware so they can write clean, proper and free Linux drivers. If you are going to make low-end hardware as S3 does, you better make sure that Linux compatibility is one of the first things on you list.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
God I get really angry sometimes at comments like this. People assume that their own experiences are all that counts.
My experiences:
* My Intel X3100 (965GM) graphics chipset runs faster and supports OpenGL 2 in Windows instead of running far slower and only OpenGL 1.4 in Linux. So, it's faster and more capable. I can even do things like force aspect ration when running at a lower resolution, something I can't do with these drivers in Linux.
* My old Canon inkjet printer provides more information in Windows. I can bring up a window showing the ink levels so I can have a rough estimate as to when I should go out to get more cartridges. I can also force a manual clean of the heads if necessary, something I cannot do with the generic drivers in Linux.
* My Realtek HD audio audio chipset has a really dodgy volume ramp-up in Linux. From about 0% to 50% it is fairly steady, but quiet. From 50% onwards it seems to change the amount of volume that is increased per each percentage tick. It's not linear. Very annoying since I end up lacking the fine-grained volume control that I can get with the drivers in Windows. A change in a volume tick in Windows at the higher levels is subtle, but in Linux it's much more noticeable. Might not sound like a big issue but it is when the volume doesn't work like your brain thinks it should!
* My webcam in Windows has additional controls such as horizontal mirroring of the image, automatic gain control, etc. I am not presented with such functions in Linux due to the primitive development of webcam drivers.
So in short - if you ignore what DOESN'T work very well in Linux, well then no wonder a lot of people try it, find it lacking and go back to Windows. Things will never improve in ignorance.
as Bruce Perens famously said at Linux SF Con 2006, Linux is only free if your time has no value
Three years is a long time in computing years. Too bad you're missing out on everything linux has to offer nowadays.
Yes, I know he's trolling but you're not really countering his point. In the context that Bruce Perens used it, Linux isn't free nor will it ever be. Neither is paying for Windows. Neither is pirating Windows. Every hour spent on maintaining or fixing your machine, or any time wasted because you're less efficient in one OS than in another OS, or every time you must use an inferior application to one you could have been using you're losing value. It's fundamental opprtunity cost even if I'm not paid for that hour, where I could say work an hour less and still have the same net amount of personal time left. It's not just the question "Does Linux do everything I want?" but also "Is Linux more efficient at doing what I want?" or at least not worse than the price of Windows + apps. I'm using the desktop now and while I can say that it works out quite well, I'm not sure I can say it's a big win on TCO.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings