The ATI R600 on Linux: Good or Bad?

After multiple delays and going through numerous revisions, the ATI/AMD R600 (Radeon 2000 series) GPU family is finally scheduled for released towards the middle of May (circa May 14). Earlier this week some new Microsoft Windows benchmarks for the ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT surfaced which shows this high-end GPU outperforming NVIDIA's flagship 8800 series. But how well will the Radeon HD 2000 series run under Linux? We have been reporting for several months that we know for a fact ATI/AMD has been working on prompt fglrx R600 support after the troubles that had occurred with the R500 (X1000) series support. However, will the performance in the new fglrx drivers be any better for the R600 series than it was for the inaugural R500 support? Will AMD schedule its new Catalyst driver rewrite for Linux at the same as the R600 launch? Under Linux with the respective binary blobs, what will be the NVIDIA equivalent to the HD 2900 XT and HD 2900 XTX when it comes to the straight-up performance? While we will answer all of these questions after the R600 launch, you can share your thoughts on the potential ATI/AMD R600 impact on Linux in the Phoronix Forums.