ATI: Open v. Closed Drivers

Outside of the frame-rate performance, the ATI proprietary drivers do provide the fireglcontrolpanel support, aticonfig utility, and various other features that simply are not matched at this time by the open-source alternatives. The open-source drivers of course are able to speak for themselves when it comes to the plethora of benefits. While we will not go around preaching in either side's favor, both the closed and open drivers do offer their various advantages and disadvantages for which a Linux user must take into consideration when choosing between the various options. When it came to the frame-rate comparison between the open-source Radeon and ATI fglrx drivers, the proprietary solution had won in a landslide. However, it is important to keep in mind that the tests performed today are in a single environment and single gaming benchmark. In the near future, we plan to accompany these results with tests that are more extensive from not only ATI but its competition as well. Feel free to voice your opinions about the open-source display driver situation using our contact page.

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