4 ms·

It's hard to believe one of the highest valued companies in the world cares about being shamed for not having open source drivers.

by kabes 2y ago

nailer 2y ago
Having products that require a bunch of extra work due to proprietary drivers, especially when their competitors don't require that work, is not good.
- josefx 2y ago
  The biggest chunk of that "extra work" would be installing Linux in the first place, given that almost everything comes with Windows out of the box. An additional "sudo apt install nvidia-drivers" isn't going to stop anyone who already got that far.
  - sam_bristow 2y ago
    Does the "everything comes with Windows out of the box" still apply for the servers and workstations where I imagine the vast majority of these high-end GPUs are going these days?
  - nailer 2y ago
    Most cloud instances come with Linux out of the box.
  - Arch-TK 2y ago
    Tainted kernel. Having to sort out secure boot problems caused by use of an out of tree module. DKMS. Annoying weird issues with different kernel versions and problems running the bleeding edge.
commodoreboxer 2y ago
They care when it affects their bottom line, and customers leaving for the competition does that. I don't know if that's what's happening here, honestly, but you're right that they don't care about being shamed, but building a reputation of being hard to work with and target, especially in a growing market like Linux (still tiny, but growing nonetheless, and becoming significantly more important in the areas where non-gaming GPU use is concerned) can start to erode sales and B2B relationships, and the latter particularly if you make the programmers and PMs hate using your products.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  > in a growing market like Linux Isn't Linux 80% of their market? ML et al is 80% of their sales, and ~99% of that is Linux.
  - fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
    True, although note that the Linux market itself is increasing in size due to ML. Maybe "increasingly dominant market" is a better phrase here.
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      Hah, good point. The OP was pedantically correct. The implication in "growing market share" is that "market share" is small, but that's definitely reading between the lines!
  - lmm 2y ago
    Right, and that's where most of their growth is.
- gessha 2y ago
  > customers leaving for the competition does that What competition? I do agree that companies don’t really care for public sentiment as long as business is going as usual. Nvidia is printing money with their data center hardware [1] where half of their yearly revenue comes from. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2023 https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financia...
ZeroCool2u 2y ago
I mean I've personally given our Nvidia rep some light hearted shit for it. Told him I'd appreciate if he passed the feedback up the chain. Can't hurt to provide feedback!

It's hard to believe one of the highest valued companies in the world cares about being shamed for not having open source drivers.

by kabes 2y ago

It's hard to believe one of the highest valued companies in the world cares about being shamed for not having open source drivers.

nailer 2y ago

Having products that require a bunch of extra work due to proprietary drivers, especially when their competitors don't require that work, is not good.

josefx 2y ago
The biggest chunk of that "extra work" would be installing Linux in the first place, given that almost everything comes with Windows out of the box. An additional "sudo apt install nvidia-drivers" isn't going to stop anyone who already got that far.
- sam_bristow 2y ago
  Does the "everything comes with Windows out of the box" still apply for the servers and workstations where I imagine the vast majority of these high-end GPUs are going these days?
- nailer 2y ago
  Most cloud instances come with Linux out of the box.
- Arch-TK 2y ago
  Tainted kernel. Having to sort out secure boot problems caused by use of an out of tree module. DKMS. Annoying weird issues with different kernel versions and problems running the bleeding edge.

commodoreboxer 2y ago

They care when it affects their bottom line, and customers leaving for the competition does that. I don't know if that's what's happening here, honestly, but you're right that they don't care about being shamed, but building a reputation of being hard to work with and target, especially in a growing market like Linux (still tiny, but growing nonetheless, and becoming significantly more important in the areas where non-gaming GPU use is concerned) can start to erode sales and B2B relationships, and the latter particularly if you make the programmers and PMs hate using your products.

bryanlarsen 2y ago
> in a growing market like Linux Isn't Linux 80% of their market? ML et al is 80% of their sales, and ~99% of that is Linux.
- fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
  True, although note that the Linux market itself is increasing in size due to ML. Maybe "increasingly dominant market" is a better phrase here.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    Hah, good point. The OP was pedantically correct. The implication in "growing market share" is that "market share" is small, but that's definitely reading between the lines!
- lmm 2y ago
  Right, and that's where most of their growth is.
gessha 2y ago
> customers leaving for the competition does that What competition? I do agree that companies don’t really care for public sentiment as long as business is going as usual. Nvidia is printing money with their data center hardware [1] where half of their yearly revenue comes from. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2023 https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financia...

ZeroCool2u 2y ago

I mean I've personally given our Nvidia rep some light hearted shit for it. Told him I'd appreciate if he passed the feedback up the chain. Can't hurt to provide feedback!