Reverse Engineering PowerVR Is Now A High Priority

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Reverse Engineering PowerVR Is Now A High Priority

The Free Software Foundation has now determined that reverse-engineering the PowerVR Linux drivers in order to create a free software driver capable of 3D hardware acceleration is a high priority action item. With an increasing number of mobile devices running Linux bearing these PowerVR graphics chipsets, which currently require the use of binary blobs for graphics acceleration, is not acceptable and that action must be taken to create an open driver for this hardware...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=OTEwMA

[PsynoKhi0]

Ah poop! Nothing for my KyroII boo

Anyway nice initiative!

[89c51]

on the goals of their wiki page it says: "To port the OpenGL 3 MesaGL library to G3D-SGX"


this means that the FSF will fund an opengl 3 state tracker????

[blackiwid]

thats the german word for such stuff "arbeits-beschaffungsmassnahme" translated: "work-generation-action" so that unemployed people can get a income because you should work and if its the most idiotic and unuseful work in the universe.

Is linux still that weak that the big companys can ignore it? Or is it because Linus sucks why can somebody sell a device with lets say android-linux and have binary drivers pre-installed thats forbidden even in gpl v2 so how is that even possible?

I am harder on this, so ok maybe I buy me someday a crappy blob-handy because there is no alternative, but there where is a alternative I go other ways, so I will not buy any smartbook with no open drivers and stuff like that. And also no nvidia-card.

[monraaf]

Reverse Engineering PowerVR Is Now A High Priority

That's nice. But what exactly does that mean besides being mentioned on some webpage hidden in some corner of the Internet? Reading that webpage it seems to mean exactly that and nothing more.

[Shining Arcanine]

That's nice. But what exactly does that mean besides being mentioned on some webpage hidden in some corner of the Internet? Reading that webpage it seems to mean exactly that and nothing more.

Looking at the list of other projects that have been labelled "high-priority", I think it means that it will never be done.

[Shining Arcanine]

thats the german word for such stuff "arbeits-beschaffungsmassnahme" translated: "work-generation-action" so that unemployed people can get a income because you should work and if its the most idiotic and unuseful work in the universe.

Is linux still that weak that the big companys can ignore it? Or is it because Linus sucks why can somebody sell a device with lets say android-linux and have binary drivers pre-installed thats forbidden even in gpl v2 so how is that even possible?

I am harder on this, so ok maybe I buy me someday a crappy blob-handy because there is no alternative, but there where is a alternative I go other ways, so I will not buy any smartbook with no open drivers and stuff like that. And also no nvidia-card.

Refusing to buy nvidia cards probably hurts open source development more than it helps. If you had one, you could at least help out the nouveau developers by testing the nouveau driver.

[blackiwid]

Refusing to buy nvidia cards probably hurts open source development more than it helps. If you had one, you could at least help out the nouveau developers by testing the nouveau driver.

rofl, as a customer you can only a bit influint decitions that companys do, so amd pays people to make free drivers I want not reward Nvidia for doing the oposite. And doing the work for them, so that any company learns, that it has no disadvantage when it behaves like asholes then all do this.

So its not logical to buy nvidia cards btw I am not into (graphics)-driver development.

[pingufunkybeat]

Refusing to buy nvidia cards probably hurts open source development more than it helps. If you had one, you could at least help out the nouveau developers by testing the nouveau driver.

If you had a copy of Windows, then you could reverse-engineer their stuff and improve Wine.

If you don't buy Windows, you're also hurting OSS development. And Office. And Photoshop. Everybody, buy, now. Don't like, spend it on companies that actually pay for OSS developments, no, buy nvidia, MS and Adobe!

[Kivada]

Refusing to buy nvidia cards probably hurts open source development more than it helps. If you had one, you could at least help out the nouveau developers by testing the nouveau driver.

Yeah right. Unlike a reverse engineered PowerVR driver the Nouveau driver is largely a waste of time since you have an option to buy a system with an integrated AMD/ATI or Intel GPU or buy a dedicated AMD/ATI GPU, you know, companies that actually spend money and dev time on OSS drivers for their hardware unlike Nvidia that just put out a gimmick and a pittance for OSS drivers.

Now though, for the vast majority of ARM based consumer products there is no option other then a PowerVR GPU and you can't add in your own GPU since none of the hardware comes with an expansion slot. Sure, Nvidia is making inroads into the ARM market with their Tegra line of SoCs, but the market is still dominated by Texas Instruments.

Yeah, I know Qualcomm's Snapdragon series SoCs use the ATI Imageon derived Adreno, but from what I've seen there’s no OSS driver being developed for it. Yes, there’s also VIA/S3's ARM chips like the WM8505, which has no good Linux driver, nor is it fast enough anyone to actually want something based around it outside of disposable mini laptops for black hatting.