NVIDIA Begins Releasing Documentation For Nouveau

sl4shd0rk writes "Nvidia, perhaps inspired by the infamous Torvalds Salute, has decided to do something about its crummy image with Open Source developers. The company has begun to release public documentation on certain aspects of its GPUs. Reactions from developers have been mixed; much of what's already been released wasn't a big mystery, but Nvidia says more is coming and they will also provide guidance in needed areas as well. Linus said, 'I'm cautiously optimistic that this is a real shift in how Nvidia perceives Linux. The actual docs released so far are fairly limited, and in themselves they wouldn't be a big thing, but if Nvidia really does follow up and start opening up more, that would certainly be great. They've already been much better in the ARM SoC space than they were on the more traditional GPU side, and I really hope that some day I can just apologize for ever giving them the finger.'"

Comments

Valve/Steam

[intermodal]

Anyone else think this is a result of Valve's announcement of focus on Linux-based Steam?

Re:Valve/Steam

[luciano.moretti]

That was exactly my thought.

Valve is making a big push into the Linux game space, and is likely putting some pressure on partners to "play nice" with Linux. While Valve isn't likely big enough to cause a complete reversal on their own, I'm guessing that Valve + Shield + success with releasing mobile specs + other internal pressures is causing them to reevaluate their stance in regard to desktop graphics accelerators.

Re:Valve/Steam

[ifiwereasculptor]

Not really. I think it was a response to the increased fragmentation of display servers. They'd have to support X and Mir and Wayland with their drivers. It's easier to just provide documentation and let the open source drivers do most of the heavy-lifting. Also, AMD's open support has been met with a lot of praise lately, due to DPM being available for the open drivers. Thinking more long-term, the Wintel platform is starting to give signs of decline, so it doesn't hurt NVIDIA to hedge their bets - and the most economical way of doing that is by releasing specs.

Re:Valve/Steam

[MBGMorden]

SteamOS means millions of new users

Potentially, sure.

that care about open source software

You're incredibly naive if you believe that bit.

Re:Valve/Steam

[exomondo]

Point was that the discrete graphics card market is dead

Why is it that some people see a decline in a market and translate that to it being 'dead'? I suppose desktops and laptops are dead too? We might as well just ditch them and shift to....what?

it is a shrinking small sector and there is not even room for one player!

Really? In this multi-billion dollar a year industry there is not even room for one player? Why are they even bothering to make them then? If there's not even room for one player then the fact that there are 2 must be catastrophic to their bottom lines, they must be losing money hand over fist just supporting that market!

Apologize? No.

[fahrbot-bot]

I really hope that some day I can just apologize for ever giving them the finger.

There's no need to apologize later Linus. They behaved badly and you called them out on it. If they change their behavior for the better, simply praise them for that then.

Re:Apologize? Yes.

[sjames]

Acting 12 is pretty good in a world of corporations yelling MINE MINE MINE while squabbling like 2 year olds.