GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap and fglrx 8.31.X??

[stjepan]

Will GLX_EXT_tfp be supported in fglrx 8.31.x? I'm sick of ati and fglrx because of this! I'm waiting for months and months for GLX_EXT_tfp. Will it be finally supported in 8.31.x? And when will be 8.31.x released??

btw, next time I'll buy an intel card... ati sucks at linux...

[Michael]

8.31.x will be released this month (they have a monthly release cycle). I am afraid I can't comment early on the changes, but at this stage I wouldn't expect it this month.

If you're using non-X1000 hardware have you tried out using the open-source Radeon drivers? It supports the extension.

[stjepan]

Yes, I use opensource radeon r300 driver, but it isn't that good. It lacks Buffer Objects support (like pbuffer or fbo). It's performance is quite bad it renders some stuff badly - like terrains in some levels in game neverball.
Are you sure 8.31 will be released in November (this month)?
8.30 was released on 31th of October.

[Michael]

Yes, 8.31 will be released this month.

[stjepan]

Will there be GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap support in 8.31.x?

[Michael]

8.31.x will be released this month (they have a monthly release cycle). I am afraid I can't comment early on the changes, but at this stage I wouldn't expect it this month.

Though not certain, I would hope that texture_from_pixmap makes it out this year.

[stjepan]

And what about opensourcing fglrx?

[Michael]

And what about opensourcing fglrx?

As to the swirl of speculations as to whether AMD will open-source the drivers, the fglrx 8.30.3 drivers have not seen this. Earlier this month when Joe Brockmeier (of Linux.com) was reporting on the release of Portland 1.0, he had claimed that there is confirmation that ATI is now going in the direction of "opening up its capabilities for video drivers.” Meanwhile our friend Stephen Shankland of CNET News had reported in August that ATI has no plans to make these drivers open-source. At Phoronix we are going to remain mute on the matter until any official public announcements are made, but on the Phoronix Forums there have been many people sharing their thoughts and opinions on the topic.

From the 8.30 review, though stay tuned to Phoronix and the Phoronix Forums.

[Michael]

Here are some additional things to think about if you're trying to figure out additional information about when ATI/AMD fglrx driver changes may occur, etc. Below is a summary of changes for the seven last drivers.

8.24.8

• Radeon X1k support

8.25.18

• "Maintenance release"
• TV improvements
• New product support
• Dynamic Display Management Options (unofficial; introduced by Phoronix)

8.26.18

• atieventsd for Lenovo ThinkPad laptops
• aticonfig --lsp now lists OverDrive state
• Introducing problems with R200 hardware

8.27.10

• X.Org 7.1 support
• X1k TV-out support
• Other TV features though aticonfig

8.28.8

• Combined architecture installer
• Pairmode for ATI Big Desktop

8.29.6

• "Maintenance release"

8.30.3

• X-Video for X 7.1
• "Maintenance release"

All this publicly available information may help in summarizing when the major changes are introduced and then the periods of cleanup and "under the hood" improvements. In a few instances, if you pair some of the change dates up against other events (such as when Lenovo introduced T60p support for Novell SuSE Linux) other things may also become clearer.

You may also want to stay tuned to the Redblog @ http://www.atiblog.org/