NVIDIA Starts Publishing GPU Hardware Documentation To Help Open-Source Drivers

[shmerl]

Well they would still has cuda, which is probably the only reason they still do linux drivers at all. Doubt linux desktop means them anything now-a-days, it just a by-product from the main drivel: multi million dollar AI/Datacenter/HPC segment running on linux.

CUDA is threatened by AMD improving their compute and AI oriented stack, as well as by Intel joining the market with high end GPUs, with the clear goal of cutting off a big chunk of Nvidia's enterprise pie as well. With increased competition, there will be higher pressure from developers to drop lock-in junk like CUDA and to use cross GPU compute APIs.

[Berniyh]

They don't even have anything to say to this most basic feature? Nice PR stunt, Nvida!

I think I have to agree with Linus Torvalds: "Fuck you, Nvidia!"

While I do in principle agree with you, keep in mind how long it took AMD to get where they are now.
They started about 12 years ago and at the beginning there were only few docs available (mostly because of the whole IP idiocy).
But they kept going that way and over the years something really good emerged from it.

So what is there at the beginning isn't really that important as long as there is a start and they keep following that route.
If not it would be indeed just a PR stunt.

[Veto]

How are patents preventing them from opening the documentation? Patents themselves are already public.

E.g. if they were afraid of or knowingly violating a patent or licensing deal

Edit: Not saying that is the case though...

[khnazile]

I hope that will help to finally fix GeForce 520M, that little power-hungry abomination that wastes your old laptop's battery for nothing.

[andrei_me]

This should help Yuzu, the nintendo switch emulator

[kpedersen]

keep in mind how long it took AMD to get where they are now..

Ugh, ATI / AMD and their shite fglrx. It is actually what actually brought me to this site in the first place, back around Fedora Core 3.

I didn't quite understand how a newer Mesa was causing the problem with the blob back then. And everyone just kept on shouting "Livna, livna, livna!" but I wanted a bit more of a permanent solution going forward.

[andre30correia]

IBM Power

[lucasbekker]

Considering the timing, it might have something to do with pressure from Google. NVIDIA probably expects that they stand a better chance at supplying future Google Stadia servers with their graphics cards if they provide this documentation...

[Cape]

At this point i'm completely uninterested. AMD caught up nicely and now are 10 years ahead on the opensource driver war.

NoVidea can burn to hell.

[sarmad]

meanwhile people are still waiting for their AMD powered gaming laptops.