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Hopefully this results in even better drivers for Linux. I wonder if the graphics cards they have planned will have good Linux drivers too. I've always had a go

by zmk5 5y ago

Hopefully this results in even better drivers for Linux. I wonder if the graphics cards they have planned will have good Linux drivers too. I've always had a good experience with their Linux integrated graphics drivers so far.

hansendc 5y ago
I hope so too! But, I was trying to think of if I've ever seen the Linutronix folks working on the Intel graphics code. I don't think I have: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/?qt=author&q=linutronix https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... For very selfish reasons, I'm hoping that this acquisition will give the Linutronix folks even more of an opportunity to contribute to the core kernel and especially arch/x86. Disclaimer: I work on Linux at Intel.
- zmk5 5y ago
  Thanks for your hard work!
  - silisili 5y ago
    Echoing this. Intel has by far the best working out of the box graphics drivers. I usually go Intel APUs for this reason, and am excited by the move into discrete.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    Intel is doing the best to support Linux ecosystem. I wish other growing chip manufacturer follow them.
- l1k 5y ago
  There's a series currently under discussion which failed CI: https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/20211214140301.520464-1-bigeasy@linutronix.de/#t https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/20211214140301.520464-1-bi... Plus 13 patches over the past years (not counting merges and SPDX commits): https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/drivers/gpu/drm/i915?qt=author&q=linutronix https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... Unfortunately, a lot of the PREEMPT_RT patches follow the "disable stuff for now, fix up for real later" anti-pattern. :-( Case in point: https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/YgqmfKhwU5spS069@linutronix.de/ https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/YgqmfKhwU5spS069@linutroni...
- Matthias247 5y ago
  They don't necessarily have to directly do it. As far as I remember Linutronix is rather invested in training (I enjoyed a Linux training from them around 2010), and so they might just help out other intel engineers in landing those patches.
wakeupcall 5y ago
Sure, they work somewhat. Always first to get support for the new rendering backend on linux, even before the hardware is released. However, they're plagued with issues. As a linux user of integrated intel graphics for the last 10+ years, the cycle has been: driver works with new hardware, but with major bugs that impact usability. Major bugs get ironed out in the first 6/10 months, leaving with half a dozen papercuts for a good 1-2 years. By the time the driver is stable, a new shiny rendering model/backend/engine is enabled somewhere in the stack, rolling back progress. I generally switched laptops faster than intel's ability to fix bugs on existing hardware. I have a couple good stories on certain individual series, but that's it. Not to mention, most of the driver issues are worked around in the software you're using most of the time, so the fact that you don't see issues doesn't mean the driver is working fine. I was also disappointed recently by the AX500 driver on linux. For a good part of the last year, I couldn't get stable connections. BT was next to useless. Every driver release would fix one issue in wifi, just to break BT, and vice-versa. For a company the size of intel and such massive marketshare in premium laptops I do not consider this acceptable. The amdgpu driver has actually less bugs on vega currently, has opencl working right out of the box to booth. I had less issues with realtek drivers on wireless too.

by zmk5 5y ago

hansendc 5y ago

I hope so too! But, I was trying to think of if I've ever seen the Linutronix folks working on the Intel graphics code. I don't think I have: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/?qt=author&q=linutronix https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... For very selfish reasons, I'm hoping that this acquisition will give the Linutronix folks even more of an opportunity to contribute to the core kernel and especially arch/x86. Disclaimer: I work on Linux at Intel.

zmk5 5y ago
Thanks for your hard work!
- silisili 5y ago
  Echoing this. Intel has by far the best working out of the box graphics drivers. I usually go Intel APUs for this reason, and am excited by the move into discrete.
- fomine3 5y ago
  Intel is doing the best to support Linux ecosystem. I wish other growing chip manufacturer follow them.
l1k 5y ago
There's a series currently under discussion which failed CI: https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/20211214140301.520464-1-bigeasy@linutronix.de/#t https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/20211214140301.520464-1-bi... Plus 13 patches over the past years (not counting merges and SPDX commits): https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/drivers/gpu/drm/i915?qt=author&q=linutronix https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... Unfortunately, a lot of the PREEMPT_RT patches follow the "disable stuff for now, fix up for real later" anti-pattern. :-( Case in point: https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/YgqmfKhwU5spS069@linutronix.de/ https://lore.kernel.org/intel-gfx/YgqmfKhwU5spS069@linutroni...
Matthias247 5y ago
They don't necessarily have to directly do it. As far as I remember Linutronix is rather invested in training (I enjoyed a Linux training from them around 2010), and so they might just help out other intel engineers in landing those patches.

wakeupcall 5y ago

Sure, they work somewhat. Always first to get support for the new rendering backend on linux, even before the hardware is released. However, they're plagued with issues. As a linux user of integrated intel graphics for the last 10+ years, the cycle has been: driver works with new hardware, but with major bugs that impact usability. Major bugs get ironed out in the first 6/10 months, leaving with half a dozen papercuts for a good 1-2 years. By the time the driver is stable, a new shiny rendering model/backend/engine is enabled somewhere in the stack, rolling back progress. I generally switched laptops faster than intel's ability to fix bugs on existing hardware. I have a couple good stories on certain individual series, but that's it. Not to mention, most of the driver issues are worked around in the software you're using most of the time, so the fact that you don't see issues doesn't mean the driver is working fine. I was also disappointed recently by the AX500 driver on linux. For a good part of the last year, I couldn't get stable connections. BT was next to useless. Every driver release would fix one issue in wifi, just to break BT, and vice-versa. For a company the size of intel and such massive marketshare in premium laptops I do not consider this acceptable. The amdgpu driver has actually less bugs on vega currently, has opencl working right out of the box to booth. I had less issues with realtek drivers on wireless too.