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> Nvidia is actively hostile to Linux users Actually, Nvidia is what allowed many Linux users to enjoy high quality 3D graphics on Linux for more than 20 years

> Nvidia is actively hostile to Linux users Actually, Nvidia is what allowed many Linux users to enjoy high quality 3D graphics on Linux for more than 20 years. You remember fglrx and that stuff? Well, Nvidia worked.

johnny22 3y ago
yep. nvidia was the only choice back then. I don't see how folks have forgoten that. But, now it's all AMD for me, because amd doesn't require a closed source driver or userspace. Apparently that will change in the next year or so though. It'll be interesting to see how the open nvidia stuff compares in the future.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- mort96 3y ago
  Nvidia will always require a closed source userspace, the only part they've opened is the kernel side. And the new kernel driver only works for 2000 series or newer. But it's still a pretty huge step in the right direction, even though it won't be as nice as AMD's fully open source and upstreamed driver.
- silisili 3y ago
  Some people have no idea how nice it is now compared to 15 or 20 years ago. I took an NVME out of an Intel machine, threw it into an AMD machine, booted it, and everything just worked, graphics included. No weird network drivers to track down, sound card drivers, proprietary graphics or even xf86- stuff needed.
mort96 3y ago
This was me. I had a Radeon 290x. It worked alright, but fglrx was terrible (and the config UI was the only non-English app in my system, it didn't respect locale settings), and when AMDGPU first arrived, it was a horribly buggy flickering mess. I upgraded to a 1080Ti after high-end Vega failed to materialise, and nvidia's drivers kind of just worked, especially on Ubuntu (they were proprietary of course, but so was fglrx). It wasn't really before Wayland started being a serious option that nvidia started to become a problem. I've now upgraded to a Radeon 7000 series GPU, and the open source drivers are a breeze and Wayland works much better than it does under nvidia's drivers. But I maintain that at least during the GTX 900 series through probably the 2000 series, nvidia was the only reasonable choice, even on Linux, especially if you wanted anything mid-range or above.
foresto 3y ago
> Nvidia is what allowed many Linux users to enjoy high quality 3D graphics on Linux for more than 20 years. That was very welcome at the time, but the bar has been raised. I now have the option of a GPU that plays games and integrates well with all my other OS features, so I switched. It's great to be free from the endless annoyances that came with Nvidia's drivers.
zajio1am 3y ago
Never used fglrx. Open source Radeon driver worked well (including OpenGL suppor in Mesa) on old ATI Radeon R200/R300 cards 20 years ago.
executesorder66 3y ago
Notice that they are talking in the present tense, while you are talking in the past tense.

johnny22 3y ago

yep. nvidia was the only choice back then. I don't see how folks have forgoten that. But, now it's all AMD for me, because amd doesn't require a closed source driver or userspace. Apparently that will change in the next year or so though. It'll be interesting to see how the open nvidia stuff compares in the future.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
mort96 3y ago
Nvidia will always require a closed source userspace, the only part they've opened is the kernel side. And the new kernel driver only works for 2000 series or newer. But it's still a pretty huge step in the right direction, even though it won't be as nice as AMD's fully open source and upstreamed driver.
silisili 3y ago
Some people have no idea how nice it is now compared to 15 or 20 years ago. I took an NVME out of an Intel machine, threw it into an AMD machine, booted it, and everything just worked, graphics included. No weird network drivers to track down, sound card drivers, proprietary graphics or even xf86- stuff needed.

mort96 3y ago

This was me. I had a Radeon 290x. It worked alright, but fglrx was terrible (and the config UI was the only non-English app in my system, it didn't respect locale settings), and when AMDGPU first arrived, it was a horribly buggy flickering mess. I upgraded to a 1080Ti after high-end Vega failed to materialise, and nvidia's drivers kind of just worked, especially on Ubuntu (they were proprietary of course, but so was fglrx). It wasn't really before Wayland started being a serious option that nvidia started to become a problem. I've now upgraded to a Radeon 7000 series GPU, and the open source drivers are a breeze and Wayland works much better than it does under nvidia's drivers. But I maintain that at least during the GTX 900 series through probably the 2000 series, nvidia was the only reasonable choice, even on Linux, especially if you wanted anything mid-range or above.

foresto 3y ago

> Nvidia is what allowed many Linux users to enjoy high quality 3D graphics on Linux for more than 20 years. That was very welcome at the time, but the bar has been raised. I now have the option of a GPU that plays games and integrates well with all my other OS features, so I switched. It's great to be free from the endless annoyances that came with Nvidia's drivers.

zajio1am 3y ago

Never used fglrx. Open source Radeon driver worked well (including OpenGL suppor in Mesa) on old ATI Radeon R200/R300 cards 20 years ago.

executesorder66 3y ago

Notice that they are talking in the present tense, while you are talking in the past tense.