New ATI Driver - they can't

[Larry Hartman]

On Saturday 21 July 2007 08:13:50 am manchicken wrote:
> On Saturday 21 July 2007 06:27:28 Dexter Filmore wrote:
> > On Friday 20 July 2007 16:02:05 manchicken wrote:
> > > On Friday 20 July 2007 06:18:28 Dotan Cohen wrote:
> > > [snip]
> > >
> > > > As right as you are, _any_ improvements in official Linux support
> > > > from major manufacturers such as ATI/AMD is a step in the right
> > > > direction. It will set precedent to the smaller manufacturers.
> > >
> > > Except that it's not the smaller manufacturers that are a problem.  It
> > > is particularly the large manufacturers that are the problem.  They use
> > > their market share to marginalize and exclude those who are contrary to
> > > their goals or are simply less profitable.  THAT is what the problem
> > > is. It's not that they can't, it's that they won't, and they never will
> > > until
> >
> > Umm, they actually can't. The OpenGL implementation in (at least) NVidia
> > cards are intellectual property bought from SGI. But not only NV (and
> > possibly ATi) bought rights that, so did Microsoft.
> > So to provide open src drivers NV (+ATi?) would have to give away code to
> > NDA IP. Not gonna happen.
>
> Really?  So it would be a violation of some IP agreement for them to go to
> SGI and tell them what they're trying to do, or it would be an infringement
> for them to release all but the OpenGL implementation, or it would be an
> infringement for them to put out a press release informing the Free
> Software community that they will back off of their previous positions and
> not take legal action against those trying to roll their own drivers?  I
> doubt it.
>
> --
> ~ manchicken <><
> (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)nfluence with large hammer.
> 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
>
>
> Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
> See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

Wow, all this over the latest release of the ATI driver?  I impress even 
myself some days!  :-)

Larry