Nouveau Developers Begin Reverse-Engineering NVIDIA Turing Driver Support

[gwgwg]

The real problem is that, without NVIDIA's re-licensing of the full suite of signed firmware, these files cannot be legally redistributed to users.

So don't distribute them - provide a tool that lets the end use extract the firmware from NVIDIA's binaries. [ Works for me <http://www.argyllcms.com/doc/oeminst.html> when faced with the same problem of binary blobs for color measurement instruments. ]

[ThoreauHD]

May the Nvidia black screen of death be ever in your favor. My last nvidia card is the 1080. I will not be typing nomodeset 500 times for the next gpu I buy. F that right in the goat ass. No more.

[misp]

So don't distribute them - provide a tool that lets the end use extract the firmware from NVIDIA's binaries. [ Works for me <http://www.argyllcms.com/doc/oeminst.html> when faced with the same problem of binary blobs for color measurement instruments. ]

or, don't do it and focus on vendors that do want to work with linux.
i understand nvidia's market share is big, but i'd very much like to drop open source nvidia drivers alltogether and just use proprietary ones. i can imagine two scenarios:
- people move to amd to use linux
- people move to windows to use nvidia

given recent privacy issues with microsoft and windows 10, i'd say that tech savy people would go to amd and recommend for others as well. this it talking about home use/gaming. every day some person writes blog about migrating to linux and it seems like a safe bet. hard-core gamers use nvidia/windows, but i guess more people are in mid tier level where amd gets more for the money...

corporate usage, no clue.

[Djhg2000]

or, don't do it and focus on vendors that do want to work with linux.
i understand nvidia's market share is big, but i'd very much like to drop open source nvidia drivers alltogether and just use proprietary ones. i can imagine two scenarios:
- people move to amd to use linux
- people move to windows to use nvidia

given recent privacy issues with microsoft and windows 10, i'd say that tech savy people would go to amd and recommend for others as well. this it talking about home use/gaming. every day some person writes blog about migrating to linux and it seems like a safe bet. hard-core gamers use nvidia/windows, but i guess more people are in mid tier level where amd gets more for the money...

corporate usage, no clue.

If you're going to demand a hardware change for Linux then people will stick to Windows. This is more or less the current situation given how the proprietary NVIDIA drivers seem to be the biggest issue new users with high-end gaming hardware encounter.

There are plenty of stories in gaming forums where someone tries to use Linux, finds out they need to install the NVIDIA driver, end up using the nomodeset solution for an hour while they try double-clicking whatever crap the driver website gives them, then give up concluding Linux simply sucks.

This is how the incompetence of NVIDIA executives is ruining the experience for a lot of potential new users. Having a functional out of the box experience for those users is a key factor for Linux adoption. If NVIDIA wants to sabotage their own hardware to perform like it's 1999 then that's fine, but it still needs to support basic things like drawing a desktop.

[misp]

If you're going to demand a hardware change for Linux then people will stick to Windows. This is more or less the current situation given how the proprietary NVIDIA drivers seem to be the biggest issue new users with high-end gaming hardware encounter.

There are plenty of stories in gaming forums where someone tries to use Linux, finds out they need to install the NVIDIA driver, end up using the nomodeset solution for an hour while they try double-clicking whatever crap the driver website gives them, then give up concluding Linux simply sucks.

This is how the incompetence of NVIDIA executives is ruining the experience for a lot of potential new users. Having a functional out of the box experience for those users is a key factor for Linux adoption. If NVIDIA wants to sabotage their own hardware to perform like it's 1999 then that's fine, but it still needs to support basic things like drawing a desktop.

You sure?

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-KDE-KWin-EGLStreams-POC

[Djhg2000]

You sure?

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-KDE-KWin-EGLStreams-POC

EGLStreams have nothing to do with it. They are just another example of how little NVIDIA cares for the ecosystem.

You still need either the proprietary driver, or a firmware image NVIDIA won't simply give you, to get anything but a UEFI framebuffer on the last few generations of their hardware. Even my old NVS 5400m needs a script to extract the firmware files from an old Windows driver, luckily for me it's old enough for basic functionality without the firmware.

[aht0]

There are plenty of stories in gaming forums where someone tries to use Linux, finds out they need to install the NVIDIA driver, end up using the nomodeset solution for an hour while they try double-clicking whatever crap the driver website gives them, then give up concluding Linux simply sucks.

All the better IMHO. Works like a filter removing users who are not bothering to read manuals. They as likely won't be contributing much into community besides constant whine, like "why ain't this Linux like Windows"..

[misp]

EGLStreams have nothing to do with it. They are just another example of how little NVIDIA cares for the ecosystem.

You still need either the proprietary driver, or a firmware image NVIDIA won't simply give you, to get anything but a UEFI framebuffer on the last few generations of their hardware. Even my old NVS 5400m needs a script to extract the firmware files from an old Windows driver, luckily for me it's old enough for basic functionality without the firmware.

my point was that with this kwin move, it seems that hard stance with nvidia can make results. by refusing to make nouveau driver, nvidia would have to jump in or lose linux market. this market is not big now on desktop, but is getting bigger... plus, laptops with intel only wouldnt mind.

honestly, i do not see people moving to windows, i see it going the other way. might be confirmation bias, but media stuff shows linux gets more and more exposed.
if gnome gets their stuff right for v4 this would only increase.

note: talking about home users. not a clue on corporate... which will either way probably remain with windows.