[nvidia-graphics-drivers] frustration with slow Nvidia drivers release schedule

[Scott Kitterman]

AG Restringere <ag.restringere at gmail.com> wrote:
>> If you have a support contract with Canonical, then maybe Canonical
>has a
>> support obligation, but Ubuntu, in particular for proprietary
>software,
>has no
>> support "obligation".
>
>No, that's not it, let's not confuse the issue, the commercial side and
>Canonical has nothing do with what I'm currently advocating. I never
>mentioned Canonical because I was distinguishing this from the
>commercial
>side of things.  This is purely a community support and engineering
>best-practices issue, not a commercial issue. The Linux Kernel guys
>have no
>commercial contracts with us but they embrace "best practices" and use
>the
>best recommendations to make sure they provide the best support for the
>Kernel. It's not commercial it's a community support obligation and
>engineering best-practices.
>
>This is the basis for the open-source Linux community, people helping
>each
>other to obtain the best possible systems.  It's also the purpose of
>Ubuntu, "I am because of who we all are" and "Linux for human beings". 
>To
>suggest that we need commercial contracts just to get proper device
>support
>for very mainstream and common graphics cards defeats the whole purpose
>of
>open-source Linux distributions, you might as well get an Apple Mac or
>Windows computer, there's no point to it.  It's like saying we need a
>commercial contract with the Linux Foundation just to get support for
>Intel
>and AMD CPU's, it's absurd.
>
>
>On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 3:35 PM, Scott Kitterman
><ubuntu at kitterman.com>wrote:
>
>> If you have a support contract with Canonical, then maybe Canonical
>has a
>> support obligation, but Ubuntu, in particular for proprietary
>software,
>> has no
>> support "obligation".
>>
>> Scott K
>>
>> On Friday, September 06, 2013 15:14:55 AG Restringere wrote:
>> > It's very simple:
>> >
>> > Nvidia "certifies" a driver in the "long lived branch", when it
>releases
>> a
>> > new stable driver it recommends every Linux user to install that
>driver
>> > immediately for the best experience.  Ubuntu has a support
>obligation
>> make
>> > the latest most up-to-date "certified" drivers available to all
>users of
>> > currently supported versions especially 12.04 LTS, 13.04 and 13.10.
> If
>> > Ubuntu publishes out-of-date drivers and doesn't replace them when
>> there's
>> > a newer one available it's a major problem.  Graphics drivers,
>second to
>> > the Linux Kernel itself and networking/wifi drivers, are the most
>> important
>> > drivers on a desktop system, they require a very consistent and
>high
>> level
>> > of maintenance to keep a system in good working order.
>> >
>> > *Linux x86/IA32*
>> > Latest Long Lived Branch version:
>> > 319.49<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-319.49-driver.html>
>> > <--
>> > this is the STABLE driver, anything before this is out-of-date
>> > Latest Short Lived Branch version:
>> > 325.15<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-325.15-driver.html>
>> > <--
>> > this is the BETA driver, for testing purposes
>> > Latest Legacy GPU version (304.xx series):
>> > 304.108<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-304.108-driver.html>
>> > <--
>> > this is for legacy users, those with old graphics cards
>> > Latest Legacy GPU version (71.86.xx series):
>> > 71.86.15<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-71.86.15-driver.htm
>> > l> <--
>> > these are all other legacy drivers for even older cards
>> > Latest Legacy GPU version (96.43.xx series):
>> > 96.43.23<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-96.43.23-driver.htm
>> > l> <--
>> > Latest Legacy GPU version (173.14.xx series):
>> > 173.14.37<
>> http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-display-ia32-173.14.37-driver.h
>> > tml> <--
>> >
>> > http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix
>> >
>> > On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 2:52 PM, Jordon Bedwell
><jordon at envygeeks.com>
>> wrote:
>> > > On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Paulo Roberto de Oliveira Castro
>> > >
>> > > <p.oliveira.castro at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > > > Yes, that is what I was trying to say.
>> > > > They want it work and to be as fast as it can be, without
>worrying
>> about
>> > >
>> > > it.
>> > >
>> > > I'm out of this one, the straw man just came out.
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list
>> > > Ubuntu-devel-discuss at lists.ubuntu.com
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>>
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>
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You aren't talking about open source. You're talking about proprietary software distribution. From a FOSS perspective,  the best practice is not to use it.

Scott K