[Apologies for those who've already seen this; mdz thought it would be of interest to the broader ubuntu-devel@ audience. I've updated it with the feedback we received from the driver vendors.]
This email summarizes some key information regarding Ubuntu's plans for the upcoming Oneiric (11.10) release as it relates to video drivers. I've indicated the assumptions we're working to; if any of this looks incorrect to you, please let me know ASAP. Target Versions for Release --------------------------- kernel: 3.0.0 libdrm: TBD (Probably 2.6.26) mesa: 7.11 (Plus updates; see 5 below) x-server: 1.10 xorg: 7.6 drivers: TBD (Latest releases by Aug 18) gnome libs: 3.2 (GTK3) Important Dates --------------- Aug 18th Deadline for driver version updates Sep 1st Beta 1 Oct 13th Final Release Driver-Specific Requirements ---------------------------- -intel: All Intel chipsets >= i915 (see 6 below) DRI: DRI2 KMS: "On" for all chipsets by default -ati: All Radeon chipsets DRI: 3D on chipsets KMS: "On" for all chipsets -fglrx: Radeon chipsets R600 and newer only DRI: Unspecified KMS: No -nouveau: All Nvidia chipsets >= NV04 DRI: 3D on chipsets NV04 and newer *NEW* KMS: "On" for all chipsets -nvidia (legacy): Older Nvidia chipsets KMS: No -nvidia (current): Newer Nvidia chipsets KMS: No Notable Changes =============== 1. The default graphical fallback will change from GNOME classic to Unity 2D where driver support for 3D is insufficient. 2. The default display manager will change from GDM to LightDM. 3. The ubuntu-x team will be maintaining a staging PPA with xserver 1.11 and other components for Ubuntu 12.04, which will be available later this year. 4. For fglrx and nvidia we are exploring post-release driver updates for users on an opt-in basis (via Jockey "Hardware Drivers") 5. Post-release, we plan to attempt incorporating updates from the mesa point releases. We are coordinating with Keith Packard to ensure mesa's point release process aligns with Ubuntu's SRU requirements. These updates are expected to in improved Ivy Bridge support which will be new in oneiric, along with other high impact fixes. 6. In natty, we stopped Ubuntu development support for the 8xx chipset; these may still work ok with the -intel driver but we no longer field bug reports or backport fixes for them. This policy will continue in oneiric, but we'll reevaluate for oneiric+1. Meanwhile, please work with upstream directly for 8xx problems. Daily development snapshot ISO images of Oneiric are available at: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ Newer upstream snapshot packages of X and the kernel are available at: https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ Bryce -- ubuntu-devel mailing list ubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel