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On 15/04/2014 09:14, Mick wrote: |
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> On Monday 14 Apr 2014 15:35:00 Alan McKinnon wrote: |
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> |
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>> The nvidia blobs do work well as long as you use them the way they were |
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>> intended to be used. |
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>> |
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>> The way they were intended to be used is the same way Windows uses them, |
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>> the Linux and Windows drivers share the bulk of the internal code and |
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>> Linux feature set most definitely is not the driving force here :-) |
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>> |
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>> Which means some awesome things the X server can do simply do not work |
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>> with the blob. The blob also rips out most of the OpenGL and framebuffer |
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>> code and replaces it with it's own mysterious black magic, this can add |
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>> more wrinkles. |
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>> |
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>> And finally, the Nvidia blob is not at all integrated with the kernel in |
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>> any meaningful way, so your running kernel usually ends up 2-4 versions |
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>> behind current. |
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> |
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> Would I be wrong to deduce from this that I would be better off with Radeon |
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> cards instead of moving to NVidia? Out of coincidence I have been using |
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> Radeon for ever it seems and I have had no problem that I recall with the free |
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> radeon drivers. No need to align suitable kernel versions with new video card |
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> drivers, or skip any driver versions, or much else. The only thing that I had |
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> to think about was how to sort out suitable firmware, but even this was |
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> relatively easy. |
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> |
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> Many people slate Radeon cards and this had me thinking that I should |
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> consciously make an effort to buy NVidia, but I am not as sure at this moment |
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> in time that this would not bring more problems than its worth? |
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Would you be better off with a Toyota or a Nissan? Same answer: |
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I don't see much difference. Both work, both have free and blob drivers, |
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both are better at some things and worse at others. I really don't see |
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any clear cut reason to choose one over the other for the general case. |
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Never mind that some people will not touch one or the other with a barge |
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pole no matter how much you pay them, I think they just have human bias. |
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I've used both over the years, with free and blob drivers, and they |
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always did what I need them to do - display a desktop and play movies. |
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There will always be cases where some specific range of GPU and/or |
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drivers just isn't up to snuff but I don't think that applies overall. |
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You should go with the option that maximizes your own personal warm and |
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fuzzy feelings :-) |
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-- |
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Alan McKinnon |
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alan.mckinnon@×××××.com |
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