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> One current obstacle is infrastructure: the Debian build and CI infrastructures (both hardware and software) were not designed with GPUs in mind. This is also

> One current obstacle is infrastructure: the Debian build and CI infrastructures (both hardware and software) were not designed with GPUs in mind. This is also being worked on. To be more direct, one thing we lack is funding. AMD has provided RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 GPUs for the Debian CI, but to fill out the rest of the architecture matrix I have been personally buying GPUs. That's been sufficient for covering most architectures, but we will need a sponsor if we are to acquire CDNA 2 and CDNA 3 hardware. Our goal is to cover every modern discrete AMD GPU architecture on the CI. At the moment, that would be Navi 33, Navi 32, Navi 31, Navi 24, Navi 23, Navi 22, Navi 21, Navi 14, Navi 12, Navi 10, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Vega 20, Vega 10, and (maybe) Polaris. I have been very successful at bringing the AMD GPU libraries to architectures that are not officially supported upstream. Unfortunately, I can't afford to keep buying systems out of my personal funds. I have personally spent ~7k USD on hardware for the CI and I have been offered reimbursement from the Debian project for my next ~5k USD in spending. That has given us a good foundation, but we could do more to improve hardware support if we had more funding available. Please consider donating to the Debian Project [1] if you wish to support their efforts. [1]: https://www.debian.org/donations https://www.debian.org/donations

ssivark 3y ago
> but to fill out the rest of the architecture matrix I have been personally buying GPUs. That's been sufficient for covering most architectures, but we will need a sponsor if we are to acquire CDNA 2 and CDNA 3 hardware. This seems like the kind of thing that AMD should be providing (or at least sponsoring) as a matter of principle — regardless of whether it can be funded in other ways I.e. if anyone in AMD cared this problem would be solved trivially. The fact that you are funding it out of pocket is seriously calling into question AMD’s commitment. What am I missing here?
- neilv 3y ago
  I think Debian is one of the first places AMD should be looking to fund for ROCm. Especially if there's already motivated capable volunteer labor, and all they need is equipment, and maybe a devrel point of contact. The cost seems like a few peanuts dug out of the sofa cushions, on a strategic push like this.
ksec 3y ago
> Unfortunately, I can't afford to keep buying systems out of my personal funds. I have personally spent ~7k USD on hardware for the CI and I have been offered reimbursement from the Debian project for my next ~5k USD in spending. This is ridiculous. There is absolutely ZERO reason why AMD are not giving or donated by AMD at the minimum. I am sure some AMD folks are on HN. Please link this comment to Dr.Lisa Su and get this sorted out.
- coherentpony 3y ago
  > I am sure some AMD folks are on HN The person you're responding to is an AMD employee.
  - tiberious726 3y ago
    If that's true, in what world is ROCm a priority for AMD at all? They can't even throw a few old cards on the project?!?
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    Then that says even worse things about priorities, if someone working there can't find anyone to provide one of each GPU.
    - fransje26 3y ago
      "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" It pretty much looks like AMD really cannot put their money where their mouth is, and can't bring itself to actually do what is necessary to compete with the green team. As a personal anecdote from ~4/5 years back, we contacted an AMD sales rep (AMD Germany) about a product we were developing, that was absolutely flying on NVIDIA consumer hardware. We wanted to know if there was a possibility to explore how it would run on AMD hardware, with maybe a bit of support. They didn't even bother to reply..
      - varelse 3y ago
        [dead]
bick_nyers 3y ago
Thank you for your service, breaking the NVIDIA monopoly on AI will only be possible from the efforts of people such as yourself. May I ask, why isn't AMD providing GPUs beyond RDNA 2/3 for you? Is it just because that is considered the priority as those are the newer cards? I have an RX 580 8GB at home I would be happy to give you free of charge if you don't have access to that card (Polaris 20).
- slavik81 3y ago
  > I have an RX 580 8GB at home I would be happy to give you free of charge if you don't have access to that card (Polaris 20). I appreciate your generosity, but the costs for the older architectures are dominated by the supporting infrastructure (servers, rack space, networking, power). It's not the GPUs themselves that are the bottleneck. I have sufficient GPUs to test Polaris, but we're short on servers and hosting.

ssivark 3y ago

> but to fill out the rest of the architecture matrix I have been personally buying GPUs. That's been sufficient for covering most architectures, but we will need a sponsor if we are to acquire CDNA 2 and CDNA 3 hardware. This seems like the kind of thing that AMD should be providing (or at least sponsoring) as a matter of principle — regardless of whether it can be funded in other ways I.e. if anyone in AMD cared this problem would be solved trivially. The fact that you are funding it out of pocket is seriously calling into question AMD’s commitment. What am I missing here?

neilv 3y ago
I think Debian is one of the first places AMD should be looking to fund for ROCm. Especially if there's already motivated capable volunteer labor, and all they need is equipment, and maybe a devrel point of contact. The cost seems like a few peanuts dug out of the sofa cushions, on a strategic push like this.

ksec 3y ago

> Unfortunately, I can't afford to keep buying systems out of my personal funds. I have personally spent ~7k USD on hardware for the CI and I have been offered reimbursement from the Debian project for my next ~5k USD in spending. This is ridiculous. There is absolutely ZERO reason why AMD are not giving or donated by AMD at the minimum. I am sure some AMD folks are on HN. Please link this comment to Dr.Lisa Su and get this sorted out.

coherentpony 3y ago
> I am sure some AMD folks are on HN The person you're responding to is an AMD employee.
- tiberious726 3y ago
  If that's true, in what world is ROCm a priority for AMD at all? They can't even throw a few old cards on the project?!?
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  Then that says even worse things about priorities, if someone working there can't find anyone to provide one of each GPU.
  - fransje26 3y ago
    "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" It pretty much looks like AMD really cannot put their money where their mouth is, and can't bring itself to actually do what is necessary to compete with the green team. As a personal anecdote from ~4/5 years back, we contacted an AMD sales rep (AMD Germany) about a product we were developing, that was absolutely flying on NVIDIA consumer hardware. We wanted to know if there was a possibility to explore how it would run on AMD hardware, with maybe a bit of support. They didn't even bother to reply..
    - varelse 3y ago
      [dead]

bick_nyers 3y ago

Thank you for your service, breaking the NVIDIA monopoly on AI will only be possible from the efforts of people such as yourself. May I ask, why isn't AMD providing GPUs beyond RDNA 2/3 for you? Is it just because that is considered the priority as those are the newer cards? I have an RX 580 8GB at home I would be happy to give you free of charge if you don't have access to that card (Polaris 20).

slavik81 3y ago
> I have an RX 580 8GB at home I would be happy to give you free of charge if you don't have access to that card (Polaris 20). I appreciate your generosity, but the costs for the older architectures are dominated by the supporting infrastructure (servers, rack space, networking, power). It's not the GPUs themselves that are the bottleneck. I have sufficient GPUs to test Polaris, but we're short on servers and hosting.