Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 25th Jun 2008 09:49 UTC
Yesterday, we reported on the statement several kernel developers had signed that urged hardware manufacturers to open up their Linux modules and drivers. "We, the undersigned Linux kernel developers, consider any closed-source Linux kernel module or driver to be harmful and undesirable," the statement read. Nvidia, which delivers probably the most prominent closed-source Linux driver, has reiterated its position concerning this matter.
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Member since:
2006-01-11
"There is no point in releasing open source drivers without open documentation, without context the resulting source code is about as comprehensible as an elvish magic spellbook."
If the obfuscated source code is well modularised, with no assembly and a clear separation between IO and processing :
- You can retarget any CPU architecture, instead of x86-only.
- You can retarget any operating system, instead of Xorg on OpenBSD/Solaris/Linux.
I'm convinced that there is no magic in NVidia code, they could actually deliver documentation and, as a buyer, I will prefer ATI for now.
The tough part is with code encumbered with legislative or DRM-like protections, like the WiFi chips. For these kinds of constraints, I could tolerate an obfuscated source code with no documentation.
(Maybe NVidia is hiding the HDMI link and the x264 decoder, not available in the Linux driver, far more than 3D features. Maybe they are ashame of their source code :-).