bored billionaire wanted
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick2 Jul 26, 2006 10:35 AM EDT |
I'm repeating myself because I posted a reply to the blog, but you folks are more fun. The barrier to entry for Free Hardware is a lot higher than for Free Software. It takes cold hard cash, not just smarts and hard work. Wouldn't it be nice if the next billionaire who wants to help FOSS would invest in Free Hardware instead of Yet Another Linux Distribution? I know, we need a few thousand more distros with tiny variations, and each with its own user community and two dedicated devs, but maybe when we finally have enough some of that energy and resources can be channeled into Free Hardware. And I don't mean Freeloader Hardware, but open specs and architecture, so that anyone can write drivers, and so that nasty DRM poo cannot be hid. |
| jimf Jul 26, 2006 11:39 AM EDT |
Interesting that the company that some have been calling 'slimy' is the only one supplying any kind of open solution. As for the others, they simply don't think that Linux is a very important market, and, it's not where the high end (read gamers and Cad) users are... I can't even begin to describe how broken that marketing strategy is in the long term. 'Maybe' the merger of AMD and ATI will have a positive effect for Linux in the long run, but, I wouldn't be holding my breath on that one either. As for a Billionaire suddenly starting a new graphics card venture, he would have to be a Linux fanatic, totally bored, entirely selfless, and more than a little crazy. The market has already proven that it has more graphics card OEMs than the market can support. |
| sxf Jul 26, 2006 12:04 PM EDT |
no billionaire for sure, but tim miller is plodding along. perhaps by 2H 2007 you'll be able to buy one of his cards. http://hardware.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/06/16/211021... |
| grouch Jul 26, 2006 12:07 PM EDT |
In a competitive market, every sale counts. ATI will not be selling me a graphics card until they put a good, open driver in the kernel mainline. nVidia will not be selling me a graphics card until they put a good, open driver in the kernel mainline. I won't buy a motherboard with those things integrated, either. I've been looking at components for a new computer. Right now, anything with "ATI" or "nVidia" on it is completely off the list. I am very willing to put up with a little inconvenience or lower than bleeding edge performance in order to have a computer whose continued functioning is not dependent on the marketing whims of a remote business. |
| jimf Jul 26, 2006 1:41 PM EDT |
> In a competitive market, every sale counts. In a normal market that's true. For over a decade, MS has had such a death-grip on the market that many surrounding technologies have been adversely affected. It may... heck, will be years before the computer industry returns to a truly competitive playing field. Because most of the graphic cards make their bread and butter from Windows, the development is almost entirely focused on Windows acceleration and Windows 3D. Given Open Source, who knows what direction that would have gone in... As the Linux desktop gains momentum, and the industry recognizes a viable market, we will see things change. Already, Intel supplies source, NVidia provides closed drivers and ATI has followed suit. That situation will improve as more Linux users put pressure on NVidia and ATI to release the source. I'm not sure that Tim Miller's project will ever get off the ground, but it too is an indication that the market is seeking some realistic equilibrium. |
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