Non-free drivers (Re: Invitation to ubuntu developers)

[Arwyn Hainsworth]

On 30/11/06, Tim Schmidt <timschmidt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sorry.  It's heartfelt stuff.  I'd genuinely like to know more about
> your train of thought than 'we have users, lots of them seem to like
> this 3D stuff'.

If it was only to get 3D stuff working then maybe I'd agree with you,
but it isn't. Some machines simply don't work correctly with the Free
drivers.

For example, I installed Ubuntu on a new machine the other day. Nice
spec, had an ATI card. I tried Dapper and the live CD came up with a
screen resolution of 640x480... this is on a 19" LCD monitor! Looked
awful. Edgy ran at 800x600. Still awful.
This was not a config problem, since after checking the config file
everything seemed fine. The problem was in the driver refusing to go
above 800x600 for that card.

As far as 3D stuff is concerned, it's optional IMHO, but getting the
correct resolution for 2D graphics is a must. And if it requires
proprietary drivers to do it... well so be it. When there is a Free
driver capable of doing the things that need doing, I'm sure a switch
will be considered.

Arwyn