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Topic: NVidia drivers to become open source? (Read 2041 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #16 –
Quote from: VictorBrand – on
intellectual property over intellectual products
I might have misunderstood, because you haven't used the quotes there, but if you care about software freedom, you might want to avoid using misleading terms such as these, as they implicitly support the point of view of companies creating proprietary software.

Software is not the same as material goods, which is the main reason why copying and distribution of software should be legal (currently, it is not for non-Free software).

Also, not all software is made by a company to be sold ("product"). (Also a slippery slope there with "free as in beer" vs "Free as in freedom", or in other words: "zero price" vs "libre".)

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #17 –
The open source driver is in the gremlins repo called
Code: [Select]
nvidia-open

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #18 –
Quote from: tintin – on
Did the growing number of Linux gamers who prefer AMD influence this decision ?
I suppose, this is partially so. But the gaming in Linux with nvidia is rather OK. Other things are not OK, such as occasional troubles with upgrading kernel, delayed and somewhat incomplete Wayland support, PITA with graphic artifacts after resume from suspend etc. These are common things necessary to have a smoothly working system, which is a prerequisite for actual gaming. Closed source software just doesn't fit well enough into an open source world.

I own a GT 1030, I don't play games much, but I had all this PITA as well. Using my experience with Linux, I managed to build a smoothly running system, but I'm still restricted in my distrohopping possibilities on my actual hardware because of this proprietary piece of crapware. I was to buy an nvidia card, because it was relatively cheap, and AMD alternatives were several times more expensive.

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #19 –
Quote from: VictorBrand – on
I suppose, this is partially so. But the gaming in Linux with nvidia is rather OK.

I only use 3D for applications like FreeCAD.
It was catastrophic with a GeForce GT710.
I replaced it with an equivalent and inexpensive AMD Radeon Biostar RX 550 D5 card, and since then I finally have correct and fluid displays. Everything is taken care of by vulkan.

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #20 –
Quote from: strajder – on
I might have misunderstood, because you haven't used the quotes there, but if you care about software freedom, you might want to avoid using misleading terms such as these, as they implicitly support the point of view of companies creating proprietary software.

Software is not the same as material goods, which is the main reason why copying and distribution of software should be legal (currently, it is not for non-Free software).

Also, not all software is made by a company to be sold ("product"). (Also a slippery slope there with "free as in beer" vs "Free as in freedom", or in other words: "zero price" vs "libre".)
Thank you for the input. Here I try to use the term commonly applied in social sciences, but English is my second language, though. By saying 'product' I imply something what is produced, an outcome, so to say. Not every product meant to be sold. E.g. peasant family in feudal manor produced products, but these were consumed directly either by themselves or by their landlord, without any transitional step represented by a market. Commodities are the products produced with the purpose to be sold on a market. What I wanted to say, is that FOSS is non-commodity production in our capitalistic world, which amazed me the first time when I realized that.

Then, any piece of software licensed under the GPL, is not a subject of intellectual property and cannot be (it has not copyright in the sense that nobody holds the right to copying and therefore nobody can restrict others from using and distributing the software). (Other free licenses like MIT or BSD allow transforming the software into a subject of intellectual property btw). This is the thing which enrages big companies, because they make their profits by exploiting the private intellectual property, and thus spreading of free software undermines their sources of income and power. They nevertheless try to adapt to the changing world and elaborate new sophisticated techniques of exploitation.

I've been pondering over these matters for a while, and I am to write a series of articles or even a book on that. I have some drafts already. And clearing up the terminology is an important part of this work.


Quote from: tintin – on
It was catastrophic with a GeForce GT710.
I replaced it with an equivalent and inexpensive AMD Radeon Biostar RX 550 D5
These cards are not equivalent. GT 710 is useful as an office stub only. No wonder, it is insufficient against your demands. RX 550 is comparable to GT 1030 and is slightly better and slightly more expensive. I wish I had this one, but when I was building my desktop rig last autumn, they were all sold out, and newer AMD models were far too expensive compared to the nvidia one. BTW I'm completely satisfied with my videocard as a piece of hardware. I is silent, it holds massive heat sinker and it is always cool under additional ventilators I stuck in into my computer case. Nvidia cards were always decent, the only thing that bothers me, it is poor Linux support for them. But things started to change, slowly but steadily. Alas, new open source driver supports only newer cards, 2000 series and higher, so my particular card does not fit.

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #21 –
Quote from: VictorBrand – on
These cards are not equivalent. GT 710 is useful as an office stub only.
That's right, the Radeon card is more powerful and cost me 79 Euros (49.17 € for the Nvidia). I never managed to get the Radeon RX550 hotter than 45°C, so the fan never needed to run.
It is regularly out of stock and I had to wait six months to be able to order one.

Quote
Nvidia cards were always decent, the only thing that bothers me, it is poor Linux support for them. But things started to change, slowly but steadily. Alas, new open source driver supports only newer cards, 2000 series and higher, so my particular card does not fit.
This is great news that we welcome with caution.

Re: NVidia drivers to become open source?

Reply #22 –
Rx 6400 is likely the best low profile card on the market presently.  For the price and power consumption, a g3 elitedesk like the one I bought with an i7 7700 and 16 gb of ram and any nvme drive paired with a 6400 is cheap entry level 1080p medium settings Linux gaming machine despite the card being pcie4.  1050 ti cones in second place I think in price and performance but with amd free drivers I would 6400 even if it were the second best option because I know it will be less trouble for me.
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