Nvidia Corp. has denied statement of Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux operating system, about insufficient efforts it puts into drivers for Linux. The company reminded that unlike many others it updates binary drivers for Linux the same day it does for Windows. Moreover, Nvidia is working on support for Nvidia Tegra by Linux OS.
"Supporting Linux is important to NVIDIA, and we understand that there are people who are as passionate about Linux as an open source platform as we are passionate about delivering an awesome GPU experience," a statement by Nvidia published by Phoronix web-site reads.
Nvidia claims that it understands that some people would prefer it to provide detailed documentation on all of its GPU internals, or be more active in Linux kernel community development discussions, but that would naturally disclose the company's secrets while not necessarily help it to make better drivers. Therefore, Nvidia made a decision to support Linux on its GPUs by leveraging Nvidia common code, rather than the Linux common infrastructure, which allows it to provide the "most consistent GPU experience to our customers, regardless of platform or operating system".
As a result of its decisions, Linux end users benefit from same-day support for new GPUs , OpenGL version, extension and performance parity between Nvidia Windows and Nvidia Linux support; Nvidia's Linux drivers for a wide variety of GPUs, including the latest GeForce, Quadro, and Tesla-class GPUs are updated regularly, with seven updates released so far this year for Linux alone.
Finally, Nvidia stated that it is actively working on Linux support for Nvidia Tegra ARM-based system-on-chip, which should enable a new class of Linux-based devices, including tablets, smartphones or low-power notebooks with rich multimedia feature-set and other advantages like extremely low power consumption thanks to 4+1 architecture of Tegra 3.
Tags: Nvidia, ForceWare, Linux, Geforce, Tesla, Tegra, Quadro
Comments currently:
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Discussion started: 06/20/12 02:24:38 PM
Latest comment: 06/21/12 01:44:07 PM
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1.
Nvidia claims that it understands that some people would prefer it to provide detailed documentation on all of its GPU internals, or be more active in Linux kernel community development discussions, but that would naturally disclose the company's secrets while not necessarily help it to make better drivers.
Secrets that make Nvidia's products to run better on Windows.
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Posted by: vello100
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Date: 06/20/12 02:24:38 PM]
2.
Nvidia: We Are Fully Committed to Support Linux.
A statement coming from a can of whoop ass?
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Posted by: xybit
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Date: 06/20/12 03:13:51 PM]
3.
Nvidia is working on support for Nvidia Tegra by Linux OS
Haha on Nvidia Tegra only, how about their GPUs? (obviously none let the third party do it themselves)
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Posted by: pogsnet
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Date: 06/20/12 05:34:11 PM]
4.
The open driver Nvidia contributes to, is called
xf86-video-nv. It does nothing more than detect their cards and allow for 2D support.
=> No 3D acceleration support.
=> No video playback acceleration support.
=> No SLI support.
=> No Fermi or later GPU support.
=> No DisplayPort support on any GPU.
=> No Optimus support.
=> The code contributions itself are obfuscated in certain parts!
If you want any of the above features, you'll need to install their closed source driver. Open source community is forced to write their own driver. (Which isn't as good, because Nvidia doesn't release documentation or assist in any way. They don't care.)
Compared to what AMD does...
=>
http://developer.amd.com/...source/Pages/default.aspx
=>
http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/RadeonFeature
AMD employs 5 full time coders/engineers to work on the open driver alongside the community. AMD also provides technical specifications to their GPUs for the open community to help understand how to call upon their hardware.
Compared to what Intel does...
=>
http://intellinuxgraphics.org/
Intel has 32 people employed full time to work alongside the open community. They make sure Sandy/Ivy Bridge IGP as well as 2013 Haswell IGP will work under Linux. They also provide technical documentation on how their hardware works.
The benefit of having an open driver in Linux is that the user gets out-of-the-box support. It is one less step in the install process. Its more secure, because the open source developers know what goes into the driver and can address any problem quickly and efficiently.
...There has been the case where Nvidia's closed driver created a situation of a security issue. The user has to wait until Nvidia releases a fix or new driver release to correct the problem. This took longer than what the open source community likes...People want their security vulnerabilities resolved ASAP. The longer you wait, the more likely you'll be compromise. (Open source prefers to get security matters resolved within hours. Not days or weeks. Remember, malware and system compromise operates at electronic speeds!)
When Nvidia says they "support" Linux. They're just talking about closed driver support. Nothing else. They don't take part in the open source development process like AMD and Intel does.
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Posted by: aussiebear
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Date: 06/21/12 03:00:25 AM]
+ expand thread (3 answers)
- collapse thread
You can´t impose your vision of support to a company and its products, yo are making a exercise of talibanism.
It´s false that always is better open source support in drivers, because it´s EASIER to find the exploits, and a great part of the "open source commmunity" haven´t the knowledge to fix rare graphic issues.
AMD employs 5 engineers to the community, whoooo!!
Better say the true:
AMD employs 5 engineers to ALL the support of its products in Linux. And nvidia employs a lot more, for sure. Ah!, ok, you don´t play with its developer toys, what a shame!!
Fuck off!! Don´t you want propietary drivers? Then DONT use them, dont buy nvidia and go to "play" with the faulty AMD drivers ALL THE WAY, you can choose between bad propietary drivers and a lot worse open source drivers. ITS for you!! Enjoy this crap.
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Posted by: er_wendigo
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Date: 06/21/12 05:36:01 AM]
I agree. A companylike nVidia is trying to support Linux and babies just gives them the finger. I guess nVidia is doing the correct way because they got the finger. AMD and Intel should be jealous about it because they did not get the finger.
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Posted by: tecknurd
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Date: 06/21/12 01:44:07 PM]
Sure AMD and Intel may provide some help with the open source community. It does not mean their products are completely supported in Linux. Intel writes the drivers half way and expect the open source community to finish it and with what type of documentation. AMD might provide documentation to the open source community, but it does not mean that support of the hardware is complete.
Now look at nVidia. They provide complete support for their hardware. I should not back up nVidia's statement that nVidia does support Linux. Actually and the truth is nVidia does support Linux. What you get in Windows is what you are getting Linux. nVidia also supports other operating systems besides Windows and Linux. AMD does not do the same. Before AMD bought ATI, ATI did not support their first Radeon model in Linux. nVidia support GeForce2 in Linux.
A company can support Linux even though they did not take part in open source projects. Probably some nVidia developers are taking part in Bubblebee to make Optimus work in Linux. The reason why nVidia said that they are not supporting Optimus in Linux because Bubblebee provides the way. The kernel does have something that nVidia was going to use, but kernel developers say NO. It is really kernel developers stifle support for companies that are willing provide support for their hardware in Linux. Linux was all about options and it is not anymore. The Linux community has too many religious fanatics that want everything be open source and it is becoming a bureaucracy. It was not like this.
If you are so scared of malware getting into your Linux installation, sure do not use closed source programs. Though, don't most Linux users install pre-compiled distributions because it does increase the chances of malware.
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Posted by: tecknurd
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Date: 06/21/12 01:41:03 PM]
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