Intel opens 3D support for Linux!!

[borg]

I for one wouldn't be bothered by the open source vs closed source debate. If drivers are closed source... so what?. As long as the drivers are available, a mass majority do not care whether they are open source or closed source. Last time I checked almost all Windows drivers were closed. Do people care?. I don't think so.

 

[gxsaurav]

hey, Mandriva & linspire do charge, don't tell me they don't wanna get paid for what they do, how r they gonna get their living then

borg, your points are correct man

 

[Sykora]

that everyone who uses Linux should be a coder

I did not say that. I said that it is unreasonable to make demands of open-source writers, because it is their time after all. You can make demands of Microsoft, if you pay for their products. Open source is a community thing. You can benefit from it even if you are not a programmer. Nothing prevents you from asking ( read : making polite suggestions) for new features and improvements. If they are kind and believe in benefit for the community (which the normally do, since they are working in open source), they will listen to your suggestions and try their utmost. They do not have to. You can help them by doing some programming, but it is not necessary. Like has been said before, if you don't want to go near the Open source movement, don't.

If drivers are closed source... so what?

I posted half a page of literature for nothing? Ah well, I can't say that I wasn't warned.

Do people care?

Be specific. People who use their computers merely as tools to get their jobs done, will not care, and we can respect that. However, those whose job _is_ computers, coding, and the like, and who want to get the most out of the machine, and allow others to get the most out of their machine, do care.

 

[JGuru]

@Sykora, that is a good point. Open-source gives access to drivers to one & all.
The whole Linux community will benefit from it. Closed-source means , you have to
pay , like @gxsaurav has pointed out. So open-source is the way to go. And Intel
has done the right thing.

 

[borg]

I think this brings to light the difference between mainstream computer users & Linux users. 95% (Linux's desktop marketshare is about 3%) of the Computer world doesn't use Linux. Closed source is not a problem with these many people. A vast majority of users don't care about open or closed as long as it works. Ati/Nvidia drivers have always been closed on Windows. Nobody sees a problem with that. A vast majority of computer users are not programmers. How does it affect a non programmer as to whether a something is open source or not. It doesn't.

Now i am not against Open source at all. But it shouldn't be a prerequisite to anything. There are some zealots in the open source community who are against anything closed. These people are fanatics. As far as I am concerned, it doesn't matter to me whether the drivers are open or closed, as long as they are available & work well. A vast majority of computer users cannot be bothered with philosophies & dogmas. They just want to use their computer & will use whatever works best (closed or open).

 

[abhishekkulkarni]

what Linux lacks, is configurability. What the point of editing xconfig file manually using some text editor, can't they make it like some menu or something, when I used ubuntu live, I saw this option that I could chose my graphics driver from a drop down list (some where in the control panel) there were names like nv, ati, Intel etc, this is what I m saying to make better.

Mandriva , Mepis and Open SuSe 10.2 ( The most widely used Distro's ) all have this feature of configuring your Graphics Adapter ( Onboard / Graphics Card ) from the Control Center .
And , don't say that Fedora Core doesn't have this facility - Fedora Core is not an OS portrayed as a Home entertainment operating system .

linux can excel even with closed source drivers

If this should happen , Linux will cease to be Open Source anymore . Please RTFM - *www.opensource.org .

For any software ( including Device drivers ) to be classified as "Open Source" it's source code should essentially be distributed along with it's Binaries AND for free .

 

[borg]

If this should happen , Linux will cease to be Open Source anymore

And why is that?. Device drivers are different, the OS is different. Going by ur argument, all the apps that run on the OS should also be OSS or Linux would cease to be open source, by your logic. I don't where we are going with this.

I don't know what people are thinking, but is this some sort of open source fascism?. It seems to me like Microsoft all over again.

 

[Sykora]

Please RTFM...

lol. I've always wanted to say this to someone, but you beat me to it. Haha

 

[mail2and]

Only because of these shortcomings, Linux is treated like an OS for geeks, or programmers, not the general user out there, because of which they are afraid to try it

I used Linux as my primary OS before I switched to OS X. I am not a programmer or a coder. I'm a B.Com student from a third grade college. I wasn't afraid of trying it out. So, please do not generalize and yes, please don't troll in here

Frankly, I have seen around three threads in Digit where you have mentioned the same points about Linux. If you don't like the OS for some reasons, please move on.

 

[gxsaurav]

Damn...lots of work, anyway back to the topic

I said previously, & I m saying again, Linux is excelling with closed source drivers & it can pretty well excel with open source drivers. Closed source drivers are not making any difference, configuring Linux is

abhishekkulkarni

what else did I say...even I liked the ability to chose my graphics driver from control panel in ubuntu, now this is usability which should be implemented & should be made better

Andy

jai ho aapki jo aap yahan aaye, without reading anything u started bashing again. Don't tell me, u didn't faced a single dependency hell, driver trouble etc in it

jo bhi ho, maybe it's a good move from Intel, but in my opinion, open source application might be good, as it cuts implementation costs, but open source drivers should not be there. Linux is getting popular, something the hardware manufacturers saw & they themselves released closed source drivers for u, previously u used to bash them for not providing drivers, now even if they release it as open source, u will say, they did not give source code for everything or every feature, & still bash them

change your mentality, innovation & invention for hardware can't be given for free ok, u need to charge for it, cos u deserve it. It is not software which anyone can make in their free time like skyora said, in the community

 

[abhishekkulkarni]

And why is that?. Device drivers are different, the OS is different. Going by ur argument, all the apps that run on the OS should also be OSS or Linux would cease to be open source, by your logic. I don't where we are going with this.

I don't know what people are thinking, but is this some sort of open source fascism?. It seems to me like Microsoft all over again.

Yes , all the apps that are shipped with any Distro HAVE to be FOSS ( Free & Open Source Software ) .


It is not MY logic . I repeat please RTFM - *www.opensource.org .

Let me quote a few lines from the website here -

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution
The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

Rationale: By constraining the license to require free redistribution, we eliminate the temptation to throw away many long-term gains in order to make a few short-term sales dollars. If we didn't do this, there would be lots of pressure for cooperators to defect.

@ borg

I said that because of this statement by gxsaurav -

linux can excel even with closed source drivers

Now , where does the question of facism come in ???

In the above sentence even the term Linux and 'closed source drivers' are contradictory .
Linux -> Open Source , Closed Source Drivers -> Closed source

How can they ever coexist ?

Please think before commenting on a post ..

@sykora

LOL

@gxsaurav

I agree with you completely .
Linux should be standardised , to make it more freely usable .