Slashdot Mirror
Nvidia Drops Support For Its Open Source Driver
An anonymous reader writes "While Nvidia is not open-source friendly (despite public outcries over the years), they have traditionally supported the xf86-video-nv driver to provide basic mode setting support and other basic functionality. However, with the 'Fermi' and future products, even that open source support will cease to exist. Nvidia has announced they are dropping this open source support for future GPUs and really ending it altogether. Nvidia's recommendation is to just use the generic X.Org VESA driver to navigate their way to nvidia.com so that they can install the proprietary driver. Fortunately there is the Nouveau project that provides a 2D and 3D video driver for Nvidia's hardware, but Nvidia fails to acknowledge it nor support their efforts in any form."
David Gerard points out that Nouveau is going into Linux 2.6.33.
They are not discontinuing support for their proprietary driver, just their open source driver, which has always been crap. If you want good 3d performance you can still use (and always should have been using) their proprietary driver.
I know, I know. You were just making a crack about how nobody uses linux...
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
By this point, Nouveau beats the old nVidia open-source driver, so everyone would want to run either Nouveau or the proprietary nVidia driver. There's no real reason to support the obsolete, limited xf86-video-nv any more (though it's not going away).
I don't understand why people are upset about this. Linux isn't being treated any lesser here; in fact, this is the same strategy they have on Windows. If you stick an nVidia card into an XP machine with no drivers, you get VESA which you use to go to nvidia.com to download the real drivers. Sure, Vista/7 ships with drivers, and so could Linux if the GPL didn't prohibit it. Besides, Nouveau is better than nv, so the driver is redundant.
This decision has no impact on games or on people using 3D software as the parent has suggested in his comment, since the nv driver had no 3D capability anyways. Development is continuing on nVidia's high quality 3D driver. There is no reason to vote with you wallet.
When did you last actually try using an intel card? I bought a new laptop in December, Intel X4500 inside, running Ubuntu 9.10.
It has suspended/resumed flawlessly for three months.
Last night I plugged it into a projector, click the Display settings, it auto-detected the new projector (listed by name even) and enabling output was a single click. Options to extend desktop or mirror it worked without problem.
Again, have you actually tried any this lately?
___________________ I want to be free()!
Nouveau driver will work for those folks. The only reason they are killing nv it seems is because the Nouveau driver is actually better than nv.
Video support in X.org is one thing, but NVIDIA cards are also used for high-performance computing via the CUDA environment. OpenCL (a potential alternative to CUDA) is mentioned as being part of Nouveau, but CUDA is a well-established solution.
So what's the status now of HPC with NVIDIA cards?
Exactly the same as before: you use the proprietary driver, like you had to do before this annoucement anyway. And in fact, Linux has been supported better than Windows as an HPC platform by nvidia.
"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
Let's not forget that nVidia sued, then purchased at a discount, then killed 3Dfx, the first company to create a fully Open Source stack for 3D hardware. You can still find their "Glide" stack, there's a Debian package for it, but the hardware isn't produced any longer.
Intel and ATI find this a worthwhile market, especially because the technical workstation market is insisting on Linux and supportable (meaning Open Source) full-performance drivers for all hardware. Gamers are a useful market but not the only market that 3D vendors play to these days.
If you asked me what was the reason for this, I'd guess it was collusion.
Bruce Perens.
Actually, AMD has released many programming specifications and sponsors the Free radeonhd drivers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_hardware_and_FOSS#ATI.2FAMD
Dilbert RSS feed
Microsoft has a history of trying to sell Linux-relevant patents to trolls and of using third-party proxies to attack Linux.
Microsoft has not changed its hostility towards Linux or open formats. Mono MAY be safe, but don't use it for infrastructure projects. Don't encourage the use of Microsoft-sponsored formats or protocols.
Mono is best used as a solely Windows compatibility tool.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
The ATI drivers are coming right along and the intel ones are pretty darn good these days.
When was the last time you used them in Windows...1997? It certainly hasn't been since they were bought by AMD, because ever since AMD took over their drivers have been solid as a rock. Hell I am typing this on a quad core AMD with a 4650 and an ATI TV Tuner, and damned if even the TV Tuner isn't stable as hell, and those things are NEVER stable!
So I would say give them another try. You can buy a 4xxx series card for under $50 (I bought this 1Gb 4650 for $36 after rebate) and the thing is quiet as a church mouse and gives me a real nice picture and hardware accelerated everything. you really can't beat the "bang for the buck" in the AMD camp these days. And since AMD is releasing the full specs I'm sure the AMD drivers will get nothing but better in Linux.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I bought a Matrox. I think it was a Parhelia. Can't quite recall.
I had heard "buy Matrox" all along since around 95 when I first started with linux. well long story short: it's an urban legend. To be sure, the 2D on those cards are just awesome! Sucks for 3D but the 2D is just gorgeous.
However, their support for linux is just plain shoddy. At the time I was using the card, their driver wouldn't work for that particular model. someone was providing some patches to get the thing to work. but just barely. I wish they supported it better. I would love to use that card - I don't have much use for 3D. But I simply can't. Using nvidia now since it came with this computer. but would love to use Matrox. just can't.