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Linux Hardware Drivers
Hardware companies to release their drivers open source
I just found a petition against NVIDIA Corporation on releasing their drivers opensource for the linux community. I personally agree with what the petition says, and I think most of you might too.
The petition can be viewed and signed at http://www.petitiononline.com/hwopennv/
I just found a petition against NVIDIA Corporation on releasing their drivers opensource for the linux community. I personally agree with what the petition says, and I think most of you might too.
The petition can be viewed and signed at http://www.petitiononline.com/hwopennv/
It would be good for them to do so. That way linux users will be more likely to buy their cards. Expecialy if they get a reputation for being linux-friendly. It's not like they charge for thier drivers anyway.
They do release their drivers for free anyway. Whether the driver is free or opensource, we still have to buy their hardware to use it. So what is it that they gain from keeping the code from being opensource?
Besides, being linux friendly can only increase their popularity.
Besides, being linux friendly can only increase their popularity.
| ashik wrote: |
| They do release their drivers for free anyway. Whether the driver is free or opensource, we still have to buy their hardware to use it. So what is it that they gain from keeping the code from being opensource?
Besides, being linux friendly can only increase their popularity. |
In the case of display cards, I heard it from some OpenBSD interview that because of the speed at which they roll the cards out, there are a lot of design problem/bugs etc that they work around with their drivers. Maybe that is one reason why they'd prefer to keep their driver closed source.
I no longer buy any hardware that does not have Linux driver. I don't think the hardware vendors will care about petitions, when they don't see a significant drop in sales that come with them.
ý want to use linux(pardus) but ý didnt find my card drivers
ý cant use
Companies have to generate linux drivers
ÝN the future everyone use opensource ý think
ý cant use
Companies have to generate linux drivers
ÝN the future everyone use opensource ý think
I think they should probably make them available for open source operating systems. The drivers don't necessarily have to be open source though.
| Kd527 wrote: |
| I think they should probably make them available for open source operating systems. The drivers don't necessarily have to be open source though. |
Linux provides everything along with it during installation. If the driver is not opensource, it will have to be installed seperately after the OS installation and is difficult to be included in the package. That might not be a big problem though..
Also, making the code opensource will only increase support for them. Anyone can offer support and their contributions. According to atholas, there might be bugs in the code. Making it viewable to others will let experienced users correct the problems and contribute to the companies.
So, as I said before, what do they have to lose by making the code opensource?
Whatever happened to standards like VESA? ANSI standards should be put in place for thibgs like this.
Linux developers tried to write their own opensource drivers for these hardware and they worked. But since they don't know the actual hardware configuration as the hardware manufacturers do, these drivers could never achieve the expected performance. But if the companies release the drivers themselves, this problem can be avoided.
Although it might not be evident now, linux users will soon be out looking for other alternative hardware for which they will get more support. Actually, that is what linux users usually expect. Everything they need is included in the linux packacge. That's the beauty of most linux distros. If they cannot get this just because of these hardware, they are sure to look for other alternatives
Although it might not be evident now, linux users will soon be out looking for other alternative hardware for which they will get more support. Actually, that is what linux users usually expect. Everything they need is included in the linux packacge. That's the beauty of most linux distros. If they cannot get this just because of these hardware, they are sure to look for other alternatives
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