[mythtv-users] nVidia & Red Hat (was: apt-get couldn't find package error)

Jarod C. Wilson jcw at wilsonet.com
Sun Jun 13 17:41:18 EDT 2004


On Jun 13, 2004, at 10:23 AM, J. Donavan Stanley wrote:

> Jarod C. Wilson wrote:
>
>> On Jun 13, 2004, at 8:10 AM, daryl faulds wrote:
>>
>>> "Your nVidia video card will work fine with FC2 it
>>> will just lack 3D acceleration. If you absolutely need
>>> 3D acceleration then there are instructions available
>>> that will guide you through the steps to install the
>>> binary only driver. For future purchases, avoid nVidia
>>> and buy hardware supported by open source and you can
>>> avoid this step."
>>
>> They only advocate not buying nVidia hardware if you want to "avoid 
>> this step" as described above. Red Hat has said that exact same thing 
>> for years.
>
> What hardware do they recommend?

For people that want to complain to them about drivers not working, any 
hardware that has drivers they can actually do something about.

> How many open source drivers do you know that have *good* 3D support?

None. I use nVidia cards and the nvidia driver almost exclusively. And 
on Red Hat, of course. I just don't upgrade to the very latest thing 
they put out right away, because of the anticipated wait for the nvidia 
driver to catch up. Same thing happened with Red Hat Linux 9's release 
and the debut of nptl in their kernels. I wait until there are 
functional drivers again, or use the nv driver in the interim, if 
feasible. FC1 was out a month before I switched to it, and I'm still 
running on it for my Myth boxes. (Hell, at work, we have about 100 
machines all running Red Hat Linux 7.3 still)...

> I understand that Nvidia needs to update their drivers, but if that 
> zealotry is the party line from FC then they need to get their heads 
> out of their asses.

If you buy a car put in after-market modifications, you can't go back 
to the dealer and bitch at them when the mods cause problems. Red Hat 
can't be expected to support something someone else has complete 
control over.

>>> there is not likely to be resolution soon.
>>
>> Until there is a attitude change by the FC developers
>>
>> A change of attitude at Red Hat is not going to change the fact that 
>> nVidia's driver is closed-source. A change of policy at nVidia is 
>> about the only thing that would have any impact on this situation.
>
> Ahhh yes, let's all hold to the mantra that all source must be open 
> and then wonder why we have such shitty drivers for our hardware.

Let me clarify my position here. I didn't say I thought the situation 
needed to be changed (but I can see how it would be read that way). I 
simply meant the situation wasn't going to change with the 
closed-source nature of the nvidia driver. However, I *don't* think the 
situation needs to change, I'm quite happy with the way things are, and 
I will continue to use the closed-source nvidia driver. I just think 
people need to have more realistic expectations of Red Hat. Why are 
they to blame when a 3rd-party driver doesn't work on day one of a new 
release?

I fully understand and support nVidia's need to protect their source, 
given that they are sharing the codebase from their Windows drivers, 
which is their real cash cow. Like Red Hat, they're in business to make 
money, so they aren't going to just give away the farm to, say, ATI. 
Same reason ATI's fglrx drivers are closed-source also. I applaud both 
companies for even making the effort to put *any* significant work into 
Linux drivers and making them freely available, regardless of license.

Again, I *do not* think nVidia should open-source their driver, and I'm 
not an open-source-or-die advocate. Just lets not bitch at Red Hat when 
someone else's stuff is broken.

-- 
Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE
jcw at wilsonet.com

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