AMD To Open-Source Its Linux Execution & Compilation Stack
An anonymous reader writes "According to Phoronix, AMD will be open-sourcing its Linux execution and compiler stack as part of jump-starting the Heterogeneous System Architecture Foundation. The HSA Foundation was started earlier this month at the AMD Fusion Developer Summit and AMD plans to open up its stack so that others can utilize the code without causing HSA fragmentation. This will include LLVM code, the HSA run-time, an HSA kernel driver for Linux distributions, an HSA assembler, and other components."
Capitalizing on the Nvidia slam fest this week maybe?
Windows is for appliance operators. Ya see? Carries about as much cred, so why bother?
Senior NCO in the fight against entropy. I've seen things, man. Things no one should have to see.....
Linux is for fags.
Of course, everyone is free to use Linux. Even you.
Rock on! This is great news. I still don't think a lot of companies understand just how much penetration Linux and FOSS have. FOSS should be the norm not the exception. IMHO, software licenses that do not respect people over profit have no real use to me and I do my best to avoid them. I'm not a fanatic about not using proprietary software like some, but given a choice, I buy documented hardware and support people and companies that fuel the idea that people come before profit.
NVIDIA should be shamed until they comply with providing enough specs so the FOSS community can write their own open software drivers.
the full Linux execution stack (compiler/runtime/kernel drivers) in open source form, except for one commercial third party piece (the C++ parser front end)
Is this missing piece a proprietary parser of C++ for LLVM or a proprietary shader parser implemented in C++?
Kudos to AMD. It is getting easier for me to imagine buying ATI based GPUs for my own use after ~10 years of NVidia cards. A full execution stack may lead to at least more stable drivers (via users debugging), if not more efficient. My #1 objection to ATI has been instability of Linux drivers.
This is the best idea for an ad campaign I've ever heard for linux.
There. Yes, I'm a dumbass. Fine. Now, can someone please explain this? (beyond the trivial "A bunch of stuff that you use to run things.")
I didn't see any mention of opening the 3D graphics drivers or video acceleration. So the open compute code is going to call an opaque blob?
thegodmovie.com - watch it
That settles it for me. I'm buying AMD.
TSIA
So... AMD, thank you!
... "the finger effect"? :-)
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
why ist thou seducing me with your open ways?
Keep it up, AMD!!! Your good will, collaboration, and support towards the Open Source community is being noted and remembered each time I consider purchasing a new system!
Nvidia did most of this with their cuda stuff already...
CUDA Frontend: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA5OTU
Nvidia PTX Backend: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA5MzM
The missing nvidia part is currently provided by GDEV (the opensource device driver) https://github.com/shinpei0208/gdev
You don't need to refer to yourself in the third person.
I also don't need to refer to myself in the second person.
Way to make this decision easy. I was already convinced in principle, just not moving on it. Now I'm moving on it. Fusion FTW!
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I'm not sure whether he's correct or not, and this is the question I wanted answered after reading the summary
My Harley-Davidson is customized with a gun holster and an entertainment system. It is running Linux just fine and can be made really loud as well.
You don't need to refer to yourself in the third person.
I also don't need to refer to myself in the second person.
... don't even need to refer to ...self in the first person.
Ooooh, lovely! Do you play "Dancing Queen" when you ride it?
Why this is not getting as good coverage as Linus giving the finger to nVidia, that's just his usual way of dealing with things, nothing special, right? Linus will give people/companies the finger if he feels the need to, people forget that he's not a business man, he's an engineer, and mighty good at that, he does not have to be very diplomatic if he does not want to, and he even gives a perfectly good explanation to why, in the very same lecture in which most people just focused on the finger.
This on the other hand, is great news!
People might bash the AMD open source graphics drivers, but what do they think? That when AMD releases source code it will MAGICALLY become very mature code in a matter of weeks? No, it is called development, which means that it will take time before it is fully matured.
Besides, as I understand, it has still gone a lot faster than with the nouveau driver, which took years just to reverse engineer, and the AMD driver has reached about the same maturity (or has even surpassed the quality?) of the nouveau in ONLY 2-3 years?
That's why I'm buying AMD next, because I know that the drivers are still going to be maintained and developed in the coming years.
It never occurred to me that that's the reason I like it. Thanks for the insight.
Yeah, that's one of my favorite tunes, but I usually prefer something more louder, like a vuvuzela. I also mess up little towns in Colorado with my biker friends and shoot needlessly to the air while doing it. And my Linux installation shoots out loud music while we are at it. I also once met these four little boys in one of the towns who made us, and the dictionary to redefine us all. It was an eyeopener.
Start with licensing properly the firmware. All else builds on that. It's sine qua non.