Intel releases open source graphics software

[fingal]

Sounds quite interesting. It may have a knock-on effect throughout the industry.

[easuter]

.....well, the first thing i can say is that i didn't that coming.
i'm prety sure that when amd takes control of ati they might make a similar move. i mean, amd does seem to have been more opensource-friendly than intel.

[techieMoe]

I think any predictions that Nvidia or ATI will follow suit are ill-advised at best. Why? Look at the place where ATI and Nvidia make most of their money: gamers. When was the last time you heard a serious gamer who used an integrated Intel graphics chip for his/her rig? Find me an Alienware case that uses a graphics processor other than an Nvidia or an ATI.

ATI and Nvidia have been neck and neck in the gaming arena for a while now and part of their competitive edge is that neither company knows the full deep-down hardware specs of each others' products. Releasing an open-source driver that essentially exposes the innards of their flagship products is bad business sense. In other words, I'm not holding my breath.

[a12ctic]

i dont think amd will completly open up thier graphics drivers, but i do think that theyll make open intergrated drivers.

[fingal]

Yeah - This probably won't change the world, but it seems to show a shift towards open source support from a big player. I don't know what the long term effects will be, but at least it raises the profile of open source software a little.

I thought the press release was good in fact. It doesn't claim that ATI or Nvidia are going to reveal how their hardware works next week. It's not a 'Rah rah let's all do Linux' thing ... After all, Linux does 'eyecandy' very well these days, so the graphics market isn't just about gaming for Linux users. Some of us are looking forward to seeing some more funky - and well integrated - graphical effects/applications. These may or may not be useful. How "useful" are games after all? They are essentially about entertainment and (for hardcore gamers) competition.

I think this might mean ATI and Nvidia pumping some extra resources into their open source driver support. Every little helps. It's certainly going to mean some interesting discussions around board meeting tables.

[deanlinkous]

AFAIK intel has always been pretty good at releasing drivers and so forth. As stated the past perfromance of the chipsets leave a bit to be desired but I think the newer ones may be better. Certainly not hard-core gamer material but at least a decent onboard chip for us cheapskates that just want a good spinning cube for grins and giggles.

[d38dm8nw81k1ng]

intel already have good linux support. there's the microcode for their processors for a start (i don't know what it does btw). they are also backing linux in the hand-held/mobile phone market.

[psic]

I think this is good news. As techieMoe mentioned, gamers will stick to windows, but for a linux computer, I don't care about any outstanding 3D performance, as long as my graphics card works, I'm happy. The only thing I need it for is Google Earth. As for Ati and Nvidia, I only wish Ati gave us better drivers than what we've had to put up with. It would be nice to see either Ati or Nvidia perhaps make a very cheap graphics card with open-source drivers. It wouldn't have to use very advanced technology (like their top-end cards), and they wouldn't be giving too many secrets to the other side, but I think there is a market for something like this.