Mesa 21.2 Lands NVIDIA's Code For Handling Alternate GBM Backends

[andre30correia]

I have a laptop with AMD APU - works pretty stable for me. What is unusable about it? I'd take AMD APU over Nvidia garbage with Optimus any time.

kidding right? you know the point of Optimus or amd alternative? having more 3d power sometimes, igpu are simple weak for a lot of 3d things

[shmerl]

I'm not sure how you can call that irrelevance. The data that you provided shows Nvidia having over a 50% market share in market that's split up three ways. That's very relevant. In fact, it makes them the most relevant.

Those numbers only attempt to show market share among Linux gamers, too. What's the share like among Linux users that primarily use their PCs for productivity applications like Blender and Davinci Resolve. Last I checked, Davinci Resolve works on Nvidia and AMDs proprietary drivers but not the open source ones.

The trend is the important part. It's constantly dropping. Think about why. And those reasons aren't going away.

[shmerl]

kidding right? you know the point of Optimus or amd alternative? having more 3d power sometimes, igpu are simple weak for a lot of 3d things

You can get a discrete AMD card in laptops too. No need for Optimus either - PRIME should work fine.

[Myownfriend]

You install your drivers in a wrong way.

In what way? Everything works. It doesn't mean I installed it wrong just because I didn't use a package manager.

[Myownfriend]

The trend is the important part. It's constantly dropping.

It still doesn't make any of the points you are trying to make and you don't seem to want to acknowledge that Linux gamers aren't necessarilly representative of the entire of Linux users.

Think about why. And those reasons aren't going away.

What do you think the reasons are? Would one of those reasons be because of the lack of support from DE's like Sway? If that's the case, we're having this discussion in response to Nvidia intending to support GBM soon which would indeed make those reasons go away.

[shmerl]

It still doesn't make any of the points you are trying to make and you don't seem to want to acknowledge that Linux gamers aren't necessarilly representative of the entire of Linux users.

Well, I think points are self explanatory. Nvidia + blob don't offer any benefits that AMD + Mesa can't offer and offer a ton of downsides in contrast because of the blob. So it's only natural for the trend to be negative. I don't see it reversing anywhere until Nvidia starts upstreaming thing. The end result will be totall irrelevance on the Linux desktop for them. And good riddance.

What do you think the reasons are?

Same as always - the blob isn't using kernel interfaces properly (because it can't) and dances around stuff. The result is poor integration for any Linux desktop.

[ix900]

The end result will be totall irrelevance on the Linux desktop for them. And good riddance.

That won't ever happen as long as they have gpus. You can dream about it in your AMD fantasy world but that doesn't translate to reality.

[krzyzowiec]

Considering AMD is unusable for me in Linux for why I would want to use a discrete GPU on any computer, that's pretty much a wash then isn't it? Both dGPUs being unusable points to a sorry state for Linux desktop use indeed. Funny thing that Intel wins out for basic desktop use.

That’s weird to read. Unusable how? I’m using a Radeon 6800 and Wayland works well at 144Hz on my desktop and in games. Maybe it depends on the GPU but the new ones work well.

[Myownfriend]

Well, I think points are self explanatory. Nvidia + blob don't offer any benefits that AMD + Mesa can't offer and offer a ton of downsides in contrast because of the blob.

First off, it's not AMD + Mesa vs Nvidia + blob.

It's AMD + Mesa vs AMD blob vs Nvidia blob.

After Nvidia drops a driver that support GBM, it would be AMD + Mesa vs AMD blob vs Nvidia blob + Mesa.

So it's only natural for the trend to be negative. I don't see it reversing anywhere until Nvidia starts upstreaming thing. The end result will be totall irrelevance on the Linux desktop for them. And good riddance.

You've been claiming that Nvidia's been irrelevant for months yet even the numbers that you provide show that Nvidia still has the largest marketshare amongst Linux gamers. Even if Nvidia fell below 50%, they would still have a significant marketshare. I hope you realize that, by your same logic, AMD is only just becoming relevant or still isn't.

Same as always - the blob isn't using kernel interfaces properly (because it can't) and dances around stuff. The result is poor integration for any Linux desktop.

Provide more detail :-)

What interfaces? How are they resulting in poor integration with any Linux desktop? Please show examples.

Also why do you keep ignoring what I'm saying about productivity? If someone is doing GPU compute stuff, they're most likely using Cuda which means they need an Nvidia card. Blender gets better rendering times with the Cuda renderer and even even better performance with the OptiX renderer. Both require Nvidia cards.

If blob vs open-source were all that mattered to people who actually do things with their computers and programs like Davinci Resolve don't work with the open-source AMD drivers anyway, when why would that sway them from Nvidia to AMD?

I get it. You don't like that Nvidia keeps their stuff proprietary and I agree but don't lie to yourself and others about their relevancy in Linux.

[shmerl]

That won't ever happen as long as they have gpus. You can dream about it in your AMD fantasy world but that doesn't translate to reality.

On the desktop? It will happen, the only relevance will be the influx of former Windows users. Still a sizable amount, but a minor percent of total desktop Linux users. The only place where Nvidia blob will remain relevant is compute / AI because of CUDA lock-in. That will take a while to break, because of how much control they have now over that market.

The trend isn't going to change just because you are oblivious to it.