AMD Linux Catalyst: Hardware Owners Screwed?

[bridgman]

Last time I checked, Bridgman was an AMD employee...

...as are a number of other developers at AMD who are actually working on the code (rather than my pointy-haired boss contributions )

[smitty3268]

Nothing odd about that. AMD struggles to be competitive at all with Nvidia in the discrete graphics space (they're not doing so hot now that Kepler is again the performance king, but HD5000 was a good generation) and they are absolutely obliterated on the desktop CPU front. They have to be losing lots of money, which might be why they are cheapening their graphics driver support.

AMD graphics and CPU divisions were both profitable last year. However, the company as a whole is still taking huge writeoffs on Global Foundries which push it into the red.

[entropy]

...as are a number of other developers at AMD who are actually working on the code (rather than my pointy-haired boss contributions )

I thought your job is keeping the Phoronix crowd calm.

[not.sure]

I thought your job is keeping the Phoronix crowd calm.

Especially now that Michael has finally lost it.

[squirrl]

4200 here

I guess I am ok with my integrated HD 4250 until Ubuntu 12.10 comes. But then I am f*cked. I don't have enough money to bye a new card(I bought the new PC just last year) nor I would like to stay with old Ubuntu release. And OSS still not a option for me as integrated HD 4250 is already low performing graphics card, my Arch installation with OSS drivers don't support playing DOOM3, UT2004 or games with wine(I am not hardcore gamer but I play some).

Worst is with Catalyst 12.4 Windows driver is also broken in 7 with OpenGL games on my config. Looks like its a no game situation

Even worse is hdmi out on OSS. I made the mistake years ago purchasing a 9000. I thought it would be an upgrade over my TNT2 Ultra.
The 9800 was worse. Now I got a 4200 built in. Soon as I can figure out the numbers game of Nvidia I'm going with a GTX if I can afford one.

[gururise]

I've been a BIG AMD supporter for years. I still am. I whole-heartily support their open-source strategy; however, I and almost every other Linux user believe they are dropping support for r600/r700 way too soon! The OSS drivers are nowhere near the performance that they need to be, and for many of us the binary driver is our only option for descent speeds.

Now there would not be such an outcry if the OSS drivers were 60-70% of the speed of the binary drivers; however, in some cases the OSS driver can be 5-10x slower! That basically makes our hardware unusable for the things we bought it for! I've got a 4670 and a 4200 (integrated gfx). Using the OSS drivers is fine for daily computing (web browsing, etc) but comes nowhere near the performance needed for even some basic games. The only way my hardware is usable for gaming at all is through the closed-source driver. Now unless Bridgman knows something he's not telling us, the OSS drivers don't seem to be making the performance gains necessary to even reach this 60-70% goal this year or next.

[e8hffff]

I don't have a big problem with monthly releases being dropped, since trying to keep a schedule like that is kind of ridiculous.

What I am concerned with is (with ratings) :
* Chinese workforce. Distance and issues with innovation and passion for the company they'd work for. 8/10
* The stop of support for not so old cards, R600/700. 6/10
* The lack of public relations on a Linux level. 9/10
* The management of AMD. 8/10

What I would have done:
* Press release on the changes
* Had ready for release new drivers to make people happy with transition
* A new naming convention, not based around 'months'
* Said that R600/700 will still be supported, but owners will see fewer changes. This would have made those owners happy and maybe even spurred them on to buy an updated card
* Then simply release drivers when you have good enough changes to warrant a release, be it for any card. If they got alot out in close proximity then this bad news article would be squashed and people would be thriving with AMD.

I am currently waiting on the release of the Nvidia GTX660 before buying my next card. I wanted to compare between AMD and Nvidia for price and performance. That would have been GTX660 vs HD7870 OC. Now I'm leaning toward Nvidia, due to AMD's poor administration.

Maybe this news article is too soon, before AMD has shown their cards. If not then AMD's management is shot.

[e8hffff]

AMD graphics and CPU divisions were both profitable last year. However, the company as a whole is still taking huge writeoffs on Global Foundries which push it into the red.

I was contemplating buying an AMD mobo and CPU, next upgrade, as a test. I've always purchased Intel since they made the original technology of X86. I was getting concerned with Intel's attitude and dominance. Now with AMD I'm seeing them as a loser outfit.

AMD needs to come out quickly with a press release, else they could lose the many customers.

[e8hffff]

NVidia: My last NVidia card has been a 6600GT I bought in ~2004. I just checked the driver support.

It's only now Nvidia has become generally attractive due to Kepler. In the past their hardware were power guzzlers and there were many horror stories of burn outs etc. ATI were renowned for quality, features, and price.

[e8hffff]

AMD should split the drivers into two. 'Legacy' which gets basic updates to suit kernels and critical issues, and 'Mainstream' which get market attention, example: games, kernels, speed promotion, feature enhancements, etc.