NVIDIA Still Working On Open-Source For Tegra Driver

[phoronix]

Phoronix: NVIDIA Still Working On Open-Source For Tegra Driver

With the Linux 3.8 kernel in early 2013 there is going to be an open-source NVIDIA Tegra 2 DRM driver. NVIDIA is currently working out initial patches for applying 2D acceleration atop this mainline Linux kernel driver...

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

[przemoli]

So will there be another big PR release? :P

"Look we support Linux on tablets!"

On the other hand if they (Nvidia) will share some know-how on how to write good GPU driver than they will fulfill very important role.
They will engage in Linux kernel development not as black box team. But as full participant.

[ElderSnake]

NVIDIA and "Open-Source" in the same headline?

But good on them.

[przemoli]

NVIDIA and "Open-Source" in the same headline?

But good on them.

No. Nvidia do good job with drivers for Tegra.
And since there are not that many FLOSS dirvers for SoCs, I do not think that Linux kernel crowd have so much know-how that Nvidia will benefit much.
HOWEVER they have PR problem. "F**K YOU" by Linus
And it was related to black box approach by Nvidia. Everybody knows that they work on top and with Linux kernel. But they are moot about it. No feedback, no new ideas, no input on brain storms.

To my best knowlege, only recently Nvidia even started to talk with MESSa folks, on topic of inter operability due to new ABI wanted by MESSa.

Its hard to make good software, when your users do not want to talk to you.

Nvidia may have chance to change that.

And we may have new legend rising here. One "F**k you" by Linus and biggest GPU OEM change its ways :P :P :P :P :P :P
(Sorry Nvidia I just had to!)

[Teho]

And we may have new legend rising here. One "F**k you" by Linus and biggest GPU OEM change its ways :P :P :P :P :P :P
(Sorry Nvidia I just had to!)

In the same talk where the "Fuck you Nvida" comes from a Nvidia employee from the audience says that they they are working on upstreaming the Tegra support already.

[uid313]

Well Nvidia wants to break into ARM soc with their Tegra and they have competition from TI, Qualcomm, Samsung, Novathor, etc.
The competition there is fierce, so they really need open source in order for them to have an advantage and penetrate the market.

[Figueiredo]

Forget about geforce driver, if nvidia's push into the open tegra driver is for real, that's probably what most people will need anyway. Don't forget tegra 4 (wayne) is rumored to have a kepler GPU (link), so it might even help noveau guys writing their geforce driver. Future hardware seems to be all going SoC, even in the desktop/workstation and HPC space (denver and boulder).

We are nearing the end of dicrete components. Haswell is rumored to be the last socketed CPU from intel (link). How long are there going to be discrete GPUs after we're buying CPUs soldered into the motherboard?

In the next 5 years every computer will probably run on a SoC, thus, if nvidia is serious on opening their tegra driver, this is for me, much better news than geforce drivers.