nvidia

[Rahul Sundaram]

Ed Greshko wrote:

> 
> That is a "difference" but one has to understand that first, the nvidia
> drivers are free...just not open and second, there is a corporation behind
> the nvidia drivers and it is certainly possible that the corporation values
> its reputation.

You don't have to rely on a single vendor with Free software.

> In both commercial and opensource software there are no guarantees that a
> particular piece of software will be supported or continue to be developed.

The distinction between commercial and FOSS is a false one. You mean 
proprietary or non-free software. There is a lot of commercial FOSS 
applications and products available today.

Neither offers guarantees but Free software offers more choice and 
flexibility if a vendor decides to cut off support for a product.

>> This is apart from the legal issues involved in combining non-free
>> modules and the Linux kernel for a distribution.
> 
> I must have missed that part of the discussion.  I didn't notice it was part
> of the discussion that nvidia drivers or ATI drivers be made part of a distro.

Read back. That indeed is a major thrust of the discussion.

Rahul