ATI and Linux compatibility

[mugginz]

pssss, don't interrupt he is googling

Or possibly just waiting for some on topic discussion perhaps?

[Jimbo]

I think you'll find that you are indeed wrong on this count.

nah! continue googling please, and tell me something with names.

I am not saying that all 100% of opengl application works with fglrx, but at the moment i didn't hear of anything.

[mugginz]

nah! continue googling please, and tell me something with names.

I am not saying that all 100% of opengl application works with fglrx, but at the moment i didn't hear of anything.

So you're asking me to do your work for you?

[Jimbo]

People have reported instances where software that runs under nVidias blob wont run under fglrx. Clearly you have no idea what you're talking about.

And I mean native OpenGL software.

No, I am waiting you explain yourself

[mugginz]

No, I am waiting you explain yourself

So lets be clear, you are asserting that there is no software that both does work with nVidias blob and doesn't work with fglrx?

[pingufunkybeat]

Really? You're going to try to argue that it's better to use a driver because it's open source, even if it wont support the software you need to run?

Depends on how much you "need" to run it. If your job depends on it, like some CAD software. then not. If you can get a somewhat worse result using different software, then definitely. But this is exactly the same as the discussion on whether to run Open Source operating systems.

After all, Linux doesn't run lots of software people need, including Internet Explorer and MS Office and Photoshop, but many people still prefer using Linux to using Windows, and stick to Firefox, OpenOffice.org and GIMP.

For me, the idea of suffering through a binary blob and all the upgrade headaches that brings, because of a game that I play once a month, is unattractive.

That's your choice so surely you can see the folly in recommending someone buy hardware that wont run the software they want to run.

I've never recommended him to buy anything. I replied to a post going off about OSS fundies and how OSS is an unimportant consideration in general.

But it's not terribly important anyway. For Wine gamer kids, nVidia is a better choice at the moment. For people needing VDPAU, it is also a better choice (and might remain so for quite some time).

Everybody else needs to evaluate their requirements -- what software they need to run, which features they need, how much they care about running an open source system, whether they want to financially support a company who refuses to release specs, etc, and make a decision.

Making a general statement such as "nVidia is better because it runs more software" is wrong IMHO. It does run more software. ATi gives you more freedom. Take your pick.

[Jimbo]

That's your choice so surely you can see the folly in recommending someone buy hardware that wont run the software they want to run.

Do you read something?

I prefer ati a lot, the hardware is better for sure, on windows side the performance / power consuption is better. But on linux side software/drivers are not as good as nvidia, I think that my needs are not the same as you, I see you as a wine guy , so its important that you consider:

- wine has more problems.
- no video accel.
- and panix has said a good point too: compiz and/or 3D Desktop Effects might be a factor if you like that sort of thing.

[pingufunkybeat]

So you're asking me to do your work for you?

No, he's asking whether you have any basis in claiming that OpenGL apps do not work under fglrx.

If you listed some examples, then it would be a useful piece of information. It would help people make decisions based on their specific requirements. If you mentioned it, you probably know of some examples, and are not simply making it up.

If you neither know of any examples, nor have experienced this firsthand, then it boils down to FUD.

[mugginz]

Really? You're going to try to argue that it's better to use a driver because it's open source, even if it wont support the software you need to run?

Depends on how much you "need" to run it. If your job depends on it, like some CAD software. then not. If you can get a somewhat worse result using different software, then definitely. But this is exactly the same as the discussion on whether to run Open Source operating systems.

After all, Linux doesn't run lots of software people need, including Internet Explorer and MS Office and Photoshop, but many people still prefer using Linux to using Windows, and stick to Firefox, OpenOffice.org and GIMP.

"If you can get a somewhat worse result using different software, then definitely."

Well that might be OK for some people, but it's not for me when spending $500 on a graphics card and also a lot of other people as well. Especially when I can have the best of both worlds and not only run Linux, but also run the software that I want to run successfully as well.

For me, the idea of suffering through a binary blob and all the upgrade headaches that brings, because of a game that I play once a month, is unattractive.

Suffering? Sometimes it actually makes life easier? Upgrade headaches? You should perhaps consider a different distro in that case.

I've never recommended him to buy anything. I replied to a post going off about OSS fundies and how OSS is an unimportant consideration in general.

But the question of opensourceness was quite irrelevant in the discussion that was being had. He had a list of requirements that precluded FOSS drivers.

But it's not terribly important anyway. For Wine gamer kids, nVidia is a better choice at the moment. For people needing VDPAU, it is also a better choice (and might remain so for quite some time).

"Wine gamer kids" - Just because you need wine doesn't make you a "Wine gamer kid"

Everybody else needs to evaluate their requirements -- what software they need to run, which features they need, how much they care about running an open source system, whether they want to financially support a company who refuses to release specs, etc, and make a decision.

For what some people use their computers for they have the luxury of being able to consider both open or closed drivers. For those who need closed ones only modifying their requirements opens up open drivers as an option. Sometimes this can mean choosing a different card. Again I refer you to the guy that said he had a 5970 but it was useless with the FOSS drivers and so even though he bought from the FOSS friendly company he still needed to run fglrx.

Making a general statement such as "nVidia is better because it runs more software" is wrong IMHO. It does run more software. ATi gives you more freedom. Take your pick.

It's not wrong to say nVidia suites his use case better then does ATI at the moment though.

[mugginz]

That's your choice so surely you can see the folly in recommending someone buy hardware that wont run the software they want to run.

Do you read something?

Yes I did. It went something like;

Hi! I've been researching for hardware to buy a new computer. As I only use Linux but never used any ATI graphic card and a friend of mine said a while ago the combination is by any means no good, I wondered if the scenario changed over the years. Searching on internet, found AMD website FAQ, which states that "ATI Proprietary Linux driver currently supports Radeon 8500 and later AGP or PCI Express graphics products" (http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/linux.html#2)

You, Linux users, owners of ATI cards, would you please tell if it's possible to do the combination Linux/ATI and still play performance demanding games (on wine and natively)?

I searched but couldn't find useful and **updated** material on internet. Most of material are from past 5 years!!

Thanks in advance,
Rauss.

Any use cases you personally have are valid in different situations to dmrauss though.