On 05/09/07, Kaiwai Gardiner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, 2007-09-05 at 13:00 -0700, Alan DuBoff wrote: > > On Wed, 5 Sep 2007, Shawn Walker wrote: > > > > > So it would seem: > > > http://lwn.net/Articles/248227/ > > > > > > If they actually follow through on this, I'd buy a new ATi card in a > > heartbeat. > > > > > > No offense to Intel for the great stuff they've done, but they just > > > don't compete performance-wise... > > > > I agree with the second comment there, Intel's approach not only > > seems > > better but they're coming through with their promises. > > > > We have DRI for Intel chipsets for OpenSolaris today. This was due to > > Intel providing some specs and info to Sun. My hat is off to them. > > > > Also, in the past ATI has had different drivers for open source and > > for > > proprietary, AFAIK, and the performance has never been great for the > > open > > source version. I would be skeptical of this cat/mouse game. > > > > ATI/AMD have told Sun they would provide specs, but if they have it > > would > > be as of very recent. The fact that they're a partner to Sun and have > > not > > been able to provide such information makes me skeptical of anything > > written up on LWN, my $0.02. > > Sun refusing to make noise doesn't help either. Considering that almost > every SPARC machine ships with ATI gpus inside, if they really meant it, > they would have removed it - and launch a campaign of pulling AMD's name > through the mud for poor co-operation with a partner.
No, remember that Sun has a responsibility to its shareholders. Whatever makes the most sense for their shareholders is what should be done. The goals of open source and open hardware do not necessarily coincide with the goals of shareholders. You can't just yank chips from a product line either. A lot of design goes into every system: power requirements, heat dissipation, cost, layout, hardware requirements, software requirements, customer demand, availability, etc. Core components of systems that Sun ships, such as video, are not so easily replaced. There would be a tremendous cost involved in doing what you suggest without careful consideration and planning. Sun pulling support also wouldn't have the effect you think it would. They are a very small consumer of ATi parts compared to say, Microsoft (XBOX) or manufacturers like Dell, Gateway, etc. > > I've been very pleased with the nvidia driver that we have. While it > > is > > not open source, it works really well.<wink> > > I'm surprised that with how AMD treating Sun, after Sun giving them > (AMD) a leg up into the server space. A little 'good fellows' meeting > and making them realise there is a component of them holding their end > of the bargin is in order - you scrach my back and I'll scratch yours. > Lack of scratching on their part means concrete shoes ;-) Microsoft has done this for years and people have called them evil for it, yet when it works to their advantage suddenly its ok... -- Shawn Walker, Software and Systems Analyst [EMAIL PROTECTED] - http://binarycrusader.blogspot.com/ "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it. " --Donald Knuth _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
