3 ms·
GPU drivers are not just simple pieces of code that are used to access hardware. They contain very fast implementations of extremely complex libraries, and opti
by Tuna-Fish 10y ago
GPU drivers are not just simple pieces of code that are used to access hardware. They contain very fast implementations of extremely complex libraries, and optimizing compilers for complex programming languages. Just to give you an idea of the ballpark, the nVidia GPU drivers are a more complex system with more code than the entire Linux kernel.
As the performance of this system is absolutely critical, a large part of the value proposition of a GPU is its driver package. Since nVidia clearly leads the pack in the quality of their drivers, they have no intention of opening them up.
- mangix 10y agoMore code than the entire Linux kernel? Please provide a reference. There's no way that's even remotely true.
- sherincall 10y ago(NVIDIA Engineer) If you compare the whole driver stack, KMD+UMDs (OGL,DX,CUDA,Vulkan) to just the kernel part of Linux, sounds about right. The KMD alone is definitely smaller than Linux kernel.
- surrealize 10y agoJust open-sourcing and upstreaming the KMD would resolve the biggest pain-point in linux. The "very fast implementations of extremely complex libraries, and optimizing compilers for complex programming languages" can be separate.