VIA Announces Open Source Driver Initiative

Aron Schatz writes "VIA has announced that they will start a new site (http://linux.via.com.tw — doesn't exist yet) specifically for the development of open source drivers. From their press release: 'Over the following months, VIA will work with the community to enable 2D, 3D and video playback acceleration to ensure the best possible Open Source experience on VIA Processor Platforms. 'To further improve cooperation with the community, VIA will also adhere to a regular quarterly release schedule that is aligned with kernel changes and release of major Linux distributions. In addition, beta releases will be issued on the site as needed, and a bug report and tracking feature will also be integrated.' Nvidia should be next."

nVidia next?

[erroneus]

I think that would be terrific, but the announcement/article didn't say that... this is wild speculation as far as I can see.

ATI pissed me off too often where I had ATI in my Dell laptop for quite a while. I watched friends with nVidia in their machines do all sorts of nice things under Linux that I couldn't do with ATI. It was annoying, so eventually I bought an nVidia card for my laptop to replace the ATI and I too was doing nice things under Linux that I couldn't do with ATI... then ATI announced they were going strong on releasing their hardware specs and stuff like that opening the door for completely OSS drivers for ATI hardware. (I haven't seen anything yet, but I haven't been watching since I switched to nVidia.)

And now here I sit with nVidia hardware in my laptop... waiting for driver updates, features and bugs to be added... same-ole-same-ole. I'd love for the speculation that nVidia will essentially fold under the pressure, but at the moment, I don't see that they are showing any signs of pressure.

kudos

[immerohnegott]

While not exactly a major powerhouse by my estimate, VIA still holds a pretty decent hunk of marketshare. Nice to see one more (relatively) large player see Linux as a valid enough market to make this kind of effort.

I'll believe it when I see it working....

[questro]

I'll believe it when I see the drivers working on my Ubuntu system with desktop effects active. I've tried the OpenChrome drivers and other things and nothing works with the UniChrome Pro CN400/PM880 video card that I have. Via has been very disappointing so far.

Re:Nvidia have already open sourced what they can

[gmack]

Because no one asked for their IP. All anyone wants is details on the API. They can keep their drivers.

Nvida has also not open sourced "as much as possible" They got dragged kicking and screaming every step of the way. They didn't assist with open sourced drivers for their on board chipset devices until the open source folks reverse engineered the NVidia's drivers and did a better job than NVidia did.

Intel can do it. ATI has promised to do it and now so does VIA. Why is NVidia different?

I'm about 4 months from my next video card purchase and I will be taking a hard look at who has the best Linux support. A 10 FPS difference is not worth drivers that seem to need reinstalling every reboot (thanks NVIDIA).

Re:kudos

[compro01]

they're not a force in the desktop, but unless i'm mistaken, they're pretty big in the embedded sector.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it working....

[TeknoHog]

I was also thinking this is too little, too late. After a few years of playing around with VIA systems, I've moved to Intel boards where opensource drivers just work.

Nevertheless, it would be nice to see this work for real. Competition is always welcome. Frankly, it's weird that VIA hardware is geared towards embedded/mobile use, while providing drivers mainly for the most power-hungry OS on the planet.

Re:Extend It To Crypto

[TeknoHog]

Umm, this has been in the vanilla Linux kernel for a while. I've tried it with the C7 with great success, too bad the rest of the motherboard wasn't particularly good with Linux.

Re:Nvidia have already open sourced what they can

[edalytical]

You are aware that you can convert from DVI to HDMI with a single cable...right?

will work with the community eh?

[rastoboy29]

Methinks "VIA will work with the community" translates to "VIA would really like the community to do all the work, and will be good enough to host it on their website", perhaps?

linux.via.com.tw -- no such host

[Big Jojo]

Their press announcement arrived before any content, sigh.

The PR says the website will start with: drivers, technical documentation, source code, and information regarding the VIA CN700, CX700/M, CN896 and the new VIA VX800 chipsets. It'd be good to see docs on their more widely used chipsets, like vt8235 and vt8237 ... detailed ones, including errata. I mean, currently they piss off almost everyone who uses their chipsets, so why would anyone want to buy NEW hardware with VIA chips if it's not even clear the current stuff can be made to work well?

It's a nice idea, years overdue. But even at that, pre-announced.

Re:will work with the community eh?

[Ungrounded Lightning]

Methinks "VIA will work with the community" translates to "VIA would really like the community to do all the work,

If they just publish the specs and stand back, I'm fine with that.

If they also release some of their current code under a free license it's a nice bonus. ... and will be good enough to host it on their website", perhaps?

ANOTHER bonus!

Re:nVidia next?

[incripshin]

I don't want to get off topic, but crossfire is a much better technology than SLI. It distributes load far more effectively than SLI. Crossfire will continue to improve while SLI starts to look more and more like Crossfire. AMD processors have been performing better than Intel chips at lower cost for as long as I can remember. When it all comes down to it, most people are not choosing products based on technology or value. They choose based on name recognition, and it annoys me. I cheer for the underdog and for competition, but you don't see things that way.

Re:Already big in little markets

[Anonymous Coward]

From the link:

As the 4 GB of local storage is insufficient for even simple web browsing and email usage,...

lolwut? 4 gigs is plenty for that.