On Fri, 2008-05-16 at 22:46 +0200, Zoltán wrote: > Robert Osfield wrote on Friday 16 May 2008: > > Or course PC hardware is far more > > varied than Console is, but thankfully OpenGL and a > > decent OS can hide much of these variants for causing us > > too much concern. > > Robert, > > you forget one particular piece of open-source stuff, or > more specifically Linux stuff: proprietary drivers and > GPL !!! > > Most 3D hardware works rather well in Linux, but only with > binary drivers and after some heavy tweaking. I've recently > tried the latest Mandrive 2008 spring LiveCD distribution, > and it was able to boot my computer (ThinkPad T43 with ATI > X300) with full 3D support out of the box, but it was the > first time I've seen that. > > I've also read about a LiveCD distribution that provided 3D > proprietary drivers out of the box for most hardware and > that the GNU people attacked, and obliged to retract. That > was because a distribution doesn't have the right to > provide closed-source drivers in a GNU environment, and it > is only possible if it is the user's *OWN PERSONAL* choice > outside the GNU framework to do so. (I hope you understand > what I try to explain, I'm no specialist in the area)
There's simply no way this is true; period. I imagine there are many more details being left out--perhaps you could provide some links to reports or documentation that led you to believe this? What is possible, however, is that the providers of the proprietary drivers do not allow distribution of their code in a bundled way without some kind of special permission... > So for a LiveCD with OSG and some 3D application (if I > understand you correctly) to work seamlessly for JoeSixPack > there is a long way to go. And it's not only a technical > problem (as Mandriva demonstrates) but also a legal one. I > don't know how Mandriva gets around the legal hurdles (lack > of European software patents ?) > > > The purpose of this email is to throw this possibility > > out there, and to get feedback from OSG users who might > > find such an means of distribution useful. There are > > members of the community far better placed to actual go > > ahead and implement such a system too so I'd be nice to > > hear from guys with more knowledge on the OS side. There > > are already tools for creating Live CD's, I haven't > > played with them yet, but perhaps in a few years I'll > > have time to... > > If we're at it, I suggest LinuxFromScratch (LFS): > http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ > > > I like your way of thinking, but I fear there are other > problems - non technical - to resolve. > > > Zoltán > > > > _______________________________________________ osg-users mailing list osg-users@lists.openscenegraph.org http://lists.openscenegraph.org/listinfo.cgi/osg-users-openscenegraph.org
