[wellylug] Is SUSE a desktop distro? (AARRGGHH!)

[jumbophut]

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 00:34:15 -0700, Ian Sterling wrote:
> [Donald Gordon wrote:]
> > people wouldn't go around recommending nVidia because "they've got good
> > Linux support", though -- closed drivers != good Linux support, IMHO.
> 
> I'm sorry, but I really don't agree with you on this.  In the past, it
> was indeed a pain to install the nvidia drivers.  However, for the
> last six or twelve months, nvidia's had the wonderful installer
> they've been making available to the average joe user.  All one needs
> to do is (as root)
> 
[snip...]
> Don't get me wrong, your arguments may certainly be valid, but I
> certainly don't agree with them.  I'm of the mind that NOT everything
> must be open source.   I'm willing to use a closed-source product if
> it does the job BETTER than the open-sourced equivalent.

Question for ya -- what happens when the kernel version updates in a
way that breaks a proprietory driver for an older chipset, and the
manufacturer decides to only upgrade drivers for newer chipsets? 
After all, it wouldn't be the first time a company discontinued
support for an older product.

Answer for ya -- you're fscked if that happens.  If the driver is open
source, you're fine.  Worst case scenario is that you'd have to do
some kernel hacking yourself.  With a closed source driver, you'd
better be some 1337 reverse-engineering guru.

So I'm with you when you say that everything doesn't have to be open
source, and that using a closed-source product may be justified if it
does the job better than open source.  But BETTER, in my view,
includes being able to use the hardware without fear of having support
removed at the next OS upgrade.  I mean really, if I wanted that kind
of problem, I'd stick with Windows.

I use a cheap ATI (Mach64 2D) card, and it works just fine.  100%
open-source driver with AGP support.

By the way, you don't work for nvidia or an associated company do you?
 I just wondered.

-- 
Tony (echo 'spend!,pocket awide' | sed 'y/acdeikospntw!, /l at omcgtjuba.phi/')