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This is perhaps the most important feature of Linux, and far from a problem. Nvidia needs to get over itself and put its driver in the upstream tree. AMD did it

This is perhaps the most important feature of Linux, and far from a problem. Nvidia needs to get over itself and put its driver in the upstream tree. AMD did it and it's been a huge success. Linux's unstable internal API and GPL'd nature has been a huge driving force behind the availablity of open source drivers. Hell, many distros with stable driver APIs like *BSD have Linux to thank for many of the drivers they have, because without Linux there never would have been open source drivers or specs in the first place. None of the distros are going to get behind your fork because all agree with Linux on this matter, rightfully so. Nvidia can fuck off with their proprietary crap, Linux has no intention of bending over for that garbage.

janoc 8y ago
Sorry, that's bollocks. AMD did not put their driver into the upstream tree! What is in that tree is the open source driver developed by volunteers, based on ATI specs. ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one.
- ddevault 8y ago
  $ cd ~/sources/linux/drivers/gpu/ $ git log . | grep "@amd.com" | wc -l 42418 $ cd ~/sources/mesa $ git log | grep "@amd.com" | wc -l 4817 >ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one. It doesn't run faster, this is nonsense. I've personally met the AMDGPU driver developers and if you ask them they'll even tell you that basically no one needs AMDGPU Pro. It's not faster, this is bollucks.
  - microcolonel 8y ago
    To add to this, AFAIK there are two main reasons why they still have AMDGPU-PRO: it has the more compatible, better-performing OpenCL implementation (which you can run alongside Mesa, actually), and until recently it supported slightly different display features, and more compatibility profile functionality. As Mesa becomes more compatible with bizarre certified industrial applications and, and the upstream AMDGPU kernel driver enables more exotic display features, I suspect AMD might choose to just maintain Mesa for these GPUs.
- striking 8y ago
  No? https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdgpu/Makefile https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/dr... and all the other files in the folder are by AMD.
- shmerl 8y ago
  AMD are the primary developers of the upstream amdgpu kernel driver. Take a look at those who are making commits: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/drivers/gpu/drm/amd https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... You are probably confusing the situation with nouveau, which is indeed community developed reverse engineered kernel driver for Nvidia.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  > ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one. It is generally slower than Mesa + upstream AMDGPU and has been for more than a year.
eschaton 8y ago
And someone called Nvidia not simply handing over their IP to the entire world a “childish tantrum.” Linux needs to get over itself and recognize that it’s part of a larger world, and that its “my way or the highway” attitude is unnecessarily constraining. The fact that people are coming to you and saying “I’d like to use my Nvidia card with Linux but Linux isn’t supported” does mean it’s a problem—and the problem is Linux’s, not Nvidia’s.

janoc 8y ago

Sorry, that's bollocks. AMD did not put their driver into the upstream tree! What is in that tree is the open source driver developed by volunteers, based on ATI specs. ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one.

ddevault 8y ago
$ cd ~/sources/linux/drivers/gpu/ $ git log . | grep "@amd.com" | wc -l 42418 $ cd ~/sources/mesa $ git log | grep "@amd.com" | wc -l 4817 >ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one. It doesn't run faster, this is nonsense. I've personally met the AMDGPU driver developers and if you ask them they'll even tell you that basically no one needs AMDGPU Pro. It's not faster, this is bollucks.
- microcolonel 8y ago
  To add to this, AFAIK there are two main reasons why they still have AMDGPU-PRO: it has the more compatible, better-performing OpenCL implementation (which you can run alongside Mesa, actually), and until recently it supported slightly different display features, and more compatibility profile functionality. As Mesa becomes more compatible with bizarre certified industrial applications and, and the upstream AMDGPU kernel driver enables more exotic display features, I suspect AMD might choose to just maintain Mesa for these GPUs.
striking 8y ago
No? https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdgpu/Makefile https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/gpu/dr... and all the other files in the folder are by AMD.
shmerl 8y ago
AMD are the primary developers of the upstream amdgpu kernel driver. Take a look at those who are making commits: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/drivers/gpu/drm/amd https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... You are probably confusing the situation with nouveau, which is indeed community developed reverse engineered kernel driver for Nvidia.
microcolonel 8y ago
> ATI/AMD still has their own proprietary, closed blob driver that is not in the tree - and which actually runs quite a bit faster than the open source one. It is generally slower than Mesa + upstream AMDGPU and has been for more than a year.

eschaton 8y ago

And someone called Nvidia not simply handing over their IP to the entire world a “childish tantrum.” Linux needs to get over itself and recognize that it’s part of a larger world, and that its “my way or the highway” attitude is unnecessarily constraining. The fact that people are coming to you and saying “I’d like to use my Nvidia card with Linux but Linux isn’t supported” does mean it’s a problem—and the problem is Linux’s, not Nvidia’s.