[ut2003io] radeon

Peter Jay Salzman p at dirac.org
Sat Sep 28 01:21:39 EDT 2002


begin Jon Trulson <jon at radscan.com> 
> On 27 Sep 2002, zakk wrote:
> 
> > Date: 27 Sep 2002 22:28:25 -0400
> > From: zakk <zakk at timedoctor.org>
> > Reply-To: ut2003 at icculus.org
> > To: ut2003 at icculus.org
> > Subject: Re: [ut2003io] radeon
> > 
> > On Fri, 2002-09-27 at 22:12, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> > > thanks, but i was hoping for a "yes" or "no".   after reading the lgfaq,
> > > i take it your answer is:
> > > 
> > >     "i don't know". 
> > As we say in the lgfaq, the XiG commercial driver supports S3TC.
> > In the future, the ATi binary drivers for those two specific cards will
> > probably support it.
> 
> 	Well, I have to admit, it *is* actually mentioned, once you weed
> through all of the DRI (which doesn't support s3tc), myth2, and nvidia
> entries... ;-)
 
i guess i wasn't being fair.  i kind of wanted to hear something along
the lines of:

   "oh, yeah.  rob is working on it right now.  he just started new
   classes this september so it's it's slow going, but he said he
   should get it done by the end of the semester".

or something like that.  :)

> 	I'm guessing that you really like Nvidia cards?

well... yes and no.  binary only drivers suck, but it certainly wouldn't
stop me from getting a kick ass video card.  i'm a ... an open source quasi
fanatic.  a zealot who can still drink a big fat cup of realism.

what i object to most is using hardware which can be pulled from
underneath me.  suppose X 5.0 is released tomorrow and debian puts it in
right away, and nvidia decides not to release new drivers.  or for some
reason the drivers get delayed.

or on the kernel side.  suppose modversioning or the device driver
interface changes in some fundamental way that renders the kernel driver
inoperable.  and nvidia doesn't want to release a new driver until the
module interface has been settled.

anything can happen.  at least if the stuff was open sourced, i'd have a
ghost of a chance to fix the code myself.  i've done some kernel
hacking.  not the world's best, but i've done a little.

case in point:

way back when, when 3dfx ruled the world, a new kernel version came out
that had changed the layout of the file operations table.  entries were
moved around for some reason.  this happened in a stable kernel.  a few
drivers were affected.  the 3dfx kernel module broke.  i was able to fix
it.  in fact, it was easy.

prime example of why i'd rather have open source drivers.  not because
they're better (in fact, everyone agrees the radeon drivers are pretty
below standard compared to the windows radeon drivers), but because i
like being in control.  i don't like wondering if my video card will
still work if i need to upgrade to kernel 2.5.whateverthey'reupto.

my main workstation has a voodoo 5 in it.  talk about hardware getting
pulled from underneath.  i wonder how many other linux voodoo 5 users
are still waiting for the 2nd GPU to be used...  ;)

> 	Yes, beware: the XiG drivers do cost actual money.  Be very
> afraid.  Run! Run away! Buy Nvidia! ;-)
 
i think i will.  i built a machine specifically for gaming.  i'll stick
an nvidia in it.  guess i should've done it by now.

i just *HATE* the research that comes along with buying new hardware.
video cards and motherboards are the hardest things to compare... :)
maybe i'll get one tomorrow.  i've set a few nvidia cards up at our
installfests.   what are they up to?  the geforce4?

pete

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