
This forthcoming announcement, which isn't being detailed yet but will be yet another Linux graphics exclusive for Phoronix the near future, is something entirely different from the other recent open-source ARM Linux graphics advancements. As something until then. let's recap the existing open-source ARM graphics activities:
- The Lima driver project that's sponsored by Codethink and led by Luc Verhaegen as a reverse-engineered open-source ARM Mali graphics driver. Here's the latest update on Lima from LinuxTag Berlin back in May.
- The OpenFIMG driver as an in-progress open driver for the Samsung S3C6410.
- The FSF high priority project to create an open-source PowerVR graphics driver. PowerVR is used by a lot of ARM SoC vendors, but this open-source project is basically dead and basically never made any progress. Not many open-source Linux developers can work on reverse-engineering PowerVR graphics due to being tainted by their current or former employer (Nokia, among others).
- Freedreno as an open-source Qualcomm Snapdragon driver. This open-source reverse-engineered driver is actually being worked on by a Texas Instruments developer, since he can't do any open-source driver writing on PowerVR since he's tainted by working on PowerVR graphics within TI's OMAP platform. Freedreno recently hit a 3D rendering milestone.
- A reverse-engineered NVIDIA Tegra 2 driver.
- Aside from the various open-source reverse-engineering projects on the 3D side for ARM graphics, there's also the few mainline open-source ARM SoC bits on the kernel side for graphics with the Direct Rendering Manager: Samsung Exynos and OMAPDRM.
That is what's been happening in the public spotlight to date, but there's something else entirely different on the horizon, as I first mentioned on Twitter.
Stay tuned! Meanwhile tonight the beer of choice is Lindemans Framboise. As regular Phoronix readers will understand, it's unusual that I drink a beer that doesn't comply with the Reinheitsgebot and not from Bavaria -- even when giving beer to Linux-friendly companies like Valve Software.
It's fruity... It's almost like a pie. But it's an awful beer; I'm generally not a fan of Belgian Lambics.