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Nvidia Removed Linux Driver Feature For Feature Parity With Windows

Posted by timothy on from the leveling-the-playing-the-field dept.

RemyBR writes "Softpedia points to a Nvidia Developer Zone forum post revealing that the company has removed a specific Linux feature as of the v310 drivers due to the Windows platform. A BaseMosaic user on Ubuntu 12.04 noticed a change in the number of displays that can be used simultaneously after upgrading from the v295 drivers to v310. Another user, apparently working for Nvidia, gave a very troubling answer: 'For feature parity between Windows and Linux we set BaseMosaic to 3 screens.'"

6 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. And this why communism doesn't work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It makes everyone equal with Windows.

  2. Thus: by Zanadou · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "We have altered the deal; pray we do not alter it again."

  3. Removing feature for parity with another platform? by DJ+Rubbie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Anyway, if i'm right, optimus support under linux is not on par with windows.
    Are you nvidia going to fix optimus on linux, or "for feature parity" are you going to make the optimus support worse on windows too?

    Directly quoting someone from that thread because this was exactly what I was thinking of.

    --
    Please direct all bug reports to /dev/null
  4. nouveau by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All this time I've been pissed at the nouveau drivers that came as default with my linux distribution. "NVIDIA's drivers are working perfectly" I thought. "Why the hell are you building something not as good, just to make it open source?"

    Now I know.

  5. Re: SteamOS by jeff.d.woods · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Valve stated that SteamOS will be open source. Even their prototype beta hardware will be open and hackable.

  6. Thanks nVidia by turgid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been running accelerated 3D graphics on Linux thanks to nVidia since 2000. And thanks to Linus' pragmatism

    In an ideal world, nVidia would provide their drivers as Open Source for the FOSS crowd, and one day they might if they can get the IP issues sorted out.

    I am a supporter of Linux and the FSF and I admire and support the efforts and ideals of both. However, these are ideals not physical reality. I choose FOSS wherever possible. I don't run Windows and abandoned MS when Win95 came out. I've done just fine without them (thanks for Slackware, Pat).

    I dare say that there are millions of (not very clever) people in the world who would have dismissed Linux and Free Software in general as "rubbish" had they not been able to see it do fast, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics like the commercial OSs. You know what people are like...

    Then we had the support for Linux from ATi, not to be left out, and later intel who have very generously provided much data and open source code.

    Without nVidia's contribution and pioneering support of Linux, we'd be in a much darker place today and Linux would be not nearly as popular with the average user.

    I've been using nVidia graphics cards on my own PCs (all Linux) since 1999 and I've never been disappointed. I'm on my 5th or 6th card now (lost count). And I've never had trouble integrating their driver with Slackware or anything else...

    Just a happy customer here, not an employee or shareholder.

    --
    Stick Men