Opinion: NVIDIA drivers are a Good Thing [tm]

[Rodolfo J. Paiz]

At 10:27 5/17/2004, Rui Miguel Seabra wrote:
>On Mon, 2004-05-17 at 10:23 -0600, Rodolfo J. Paiz wrote:
> > them to open-source their code. I am willing to buy those arguments as
> > being reasonable; so while I would *prefer* open-source and RPM, I can
> > *accept* closed-source and custom installer.
>
>If you [...] accept a bad solution you'll hardly ever get the good one

An interesting debate. However, distilling the world down to black and 
white is simplistic, and any oversimplification is almost sure to cloud 
essential factors in the discussion. Getting excellent-quality 
closed-source drivers from NVIDIA is hugely better than getting no drivers 
at all, which is where we were a few years ago, and it helps Linux to move 
forward and be adopted more widely. It is not "bad" or "good"... but it is 
"better" than whatever we had before.

Hopefully in the future we will improve yet again, with such a strong Linux 
market presence that open-sourcing a driver becomes a competitive advantage 
instead of a disadvantage. Right now, they claim open-sourcing the full 
driver would help other makers sell more cards and would hurt them 
financially... and while you may not agree, they are entitled to make that 
choice. And I find it reasonable at this point in time.

Besides, *today* I have a computer in which the nv module sucks, and the 
nvidia module rocks. I'll be happy to help the folks who write the nv 
module by testing it and debugging it, but I'd be an idiot to bring my 
hardware to its knees by refusing to use the closed driver if it's the only 
one that works well for me. Better to use Windows! And anytime it's better 
to use Windows when you really want to use Linux, then surely that option 
is Not A Good Thing [tm].

>Your option, and I advise against recommending it.

My option, and my opinion, and I'll advocate it as I damn well please, 
thank you very much.

Unfortunately, in this case as in others before, you propose drastic, 
life-or-death comparisons which I find unrealistic, simplistic, and 
implausible. Then you additionally go on to suggest that those who disagree 
with you keep their mouths shut. If you value freedom, why do you seek to 
silence anyone with a different opinion? If you value choice, why do you 
not respect the choices of others? Why must you have everything done Your Way?

Blindly advocating "Utopia or Death" and actually exerting an effort to 
suppress anyone who dares digress from the "UOD party line" serves only to 
brand you a radical, a zealot, and an ass. It destroys whatever credibility 
you might have earned in this community.

Why don't you try to create, suggest, and promote a way for things to 
improve, instead of just bitching about the current state of affairs? No 
sarcasm intended... I'd love to hear *useful*, *realistic*, and 
*productive* suggestions about how to improve this situation.

Cheers,


-- 
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz at simpaticus.com
http://www.simpaticus.com