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What is the consequence of this? Will the drivers work worse or outright break? Why would the average Linux user who doesn't give a shit about licensing want

What is the consequence of this? Will the drivers work worse or outright break? Why would the average Linux user who doesn't give a shit about licensing want this?

pantalaimon 3y ago
This is not about what the users what, it's about the intention of the developers as expressed in the license.
- H8crilA 3y ago
  Precisely. As a user who didn't write the code you don't get to say how people, including you, can use it.
jeroenhd 3y ago
If Nvidia doesn't break the kernel license terms, this shouldn't be a problem. Their open source drivers should also work just fine as far as I'm aware. This whole issue is the result of Nvidia shoveling closed source code into a copyleft ecosystem. Of course they're going to be met with resistance. They could open-source their drivers and use the GPL symbols, of course, but unlike AMD or Intel I doubt they're going to do that. As for why Linux users would give a shit: if you don't, Nvidia hardware works a lot better on Windows and WSL2 will let you do anything Linux distros will let you do. You're also free to stick to Linux 6.5.
- kaladin-jasnah 3y ago
  > They could open-source their drivers and use the GPL symbols, of course, but unlike AMD or Intel I doubt they're going to do that. They already have, but their open modules only work on newer cards. https://github.com/nvidia/open-gpu-kernel-modules https://github.com/nvidia/open-gpu-kernel-modules.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31344981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31344981
  - jeroenhd 3y ago
    Exactly, and those drivers should work perfectly fine without interruption. The open source driver is MIT+GPLv2, it's only the closed source driver that's still causing problems. Knowing Nvidia and how shit a company they are, they'll probably just drop Linux support for their older cards at some point and blame Linux.
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mnd999 3y ago
Yeah, users suffer because the kernel devs are having a dick swinging contest with nVidia. Pretty pathetic all round.
otherme123 3y ago
I also don't give a shit about copyright, but that doesn't allow me to freely copy movies, music and images as the licenses doesn't exist. It's absolutely normal that the authors of GPL code defend their licensed work against violations, regardless what the users of said code want. Imagine Microsoft openly using GPL code in their closed programs, but as the average user doesn't give a shit should they get a free pass?

What is the consequence of this? Will the drivers work worse or outright break? Why would the average Linux user who doesn't give a shit about licensing want this?

pantalaimon 3y ago

This is not about what the users what, it's about the intention of the developers as expressed in the license.

H8crilA 3y ago
Precisely. As a user who didn't write the code you don't get to say how people, including you, can use it.

jeroenhd 3y ago

If Nvidia doesn't break the kernel license terms, this shouldn't be a problem. Their open source drivers should also work just fine as far as I'm aware. This whole issue is the result of Nvidia shoveling closed source code into a copyleft ecosystem. Of course they're going to be met with resistance. They could open-source their drivers and use the GPL symbols, of course, but unlike AMD or Intel I doubt they're going to do that. As for why Linux users would give a shit: if you don't, Nvidia hardware works a lot better on Windows and WSL2 will let you do anything Linux distros will let you do. You're also free to stick to Linux 6.5.

kaladin-jasnah 3y ago
> They could open-source their drivers and use the GPL symbols, of course, but unlike AMD or Intel I doubt they're going to do that. They already have, but their open modules only work on newer cards. https://github.com/nvidia/open-gpu-kernel-modules https://github.com/nvidia/open-gpu-kernel-modules.
- fsflover 3y ago
  Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31344981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31344981
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  Exactly, and those drivers should work perfectly fine without interruption. The open source driver is MIT+GPLv2, it's only the closed source driver that's still causing problems. Knowing Nvidia and how shit a company they are, they'll probably just drop Linux support for their older cards at some point and blame Linux.
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  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

mnd999 3y ago

Yeah, users suffer because the kernel devs are having a dick swinging contest with nVidia. Pretty pathetic all round.

otherme123 3y ago

I also don't give a shit about copyright, but that doesn't allow me to freely copy movies, music and images as the licenses doesn't exist. It's absolutely normal that the authors of GPL code defend their licensed work against violations, regardless what the users of said code want. Imagine Microsoft openly using GPL code in their closed programs, but as the average user doesn't give a shit should they get a free pass?