I've learned how to run commands/applications automatically when I login

Discussion
41

I agree.
You can put the ntfs-3g module into the boot kernel, but it would definitely be experimental. Why make trouble?

42

This is off-topic, but tangentially related. I enjoy playing a few games like Mergest Kingdom, in which game play occurs on a set/collection of3-D virtual islands. My desktop and primary laptop PCs both have NVIDIA graphics adapters. When I play these games with the open source (noveau) drivers running, the motion is jerky, much like a video streaming over a connection with insufficient bandwidth. After installing the proprietary graphics drivers, game play is perfect and smooth, as if playing a video from a local source. The improvement in performance is so astounding, my amazement canā€™t be put into words. I hope NVIDIA will someday soon share their APIā€™s with the noveau development team to enable similar quality of performance in their drivers. If a company wants to keep their device implementation private, they should provide a set of APIs (and documentation) to make their device implementation useable by all (Did I say that right?).

My2Cents,

Ernie

43

I guess the binary nvidia drivers ARE the API.
Problem is they are at too high a levelā€¦ callable only by the the linux kernel when loaded as a module.

44

I donā€™t understand the details about how device drivers work in GNU/Linux, but what Iā€™m getting at is that, since I donā€™t have to know the details/implementation of how a method works in a library Iā€™m using when Iā€™m developing a program (All I need to know is how to call its functions/methods), there should/could be a way to address the GPU similarly.

I suppose that what Iā€™m really hoping for is documentation about how to address the GPU (or whichever would be the appropriate chipset on the graphics adapter) to access/control its functionality. NVIDIA doesnā€™t have to tell the world all the details of their graphics adapterā€™s implementation, but there should be a way to tell us how to access its functionality correctly. Does this make sense, or am I drawing inappropriate parallels?

Ernie

45

That is the problem. From Nvidiaā€™s point of view, if they reveal how to drive their cards, they are revealing details of card design which they do not wish to make public.

Kernel modules have a standardized interface. So drivers implemented as modules can be a black box.

46

I suppose that dashes my hopes . . .

Ernie

47

Not necessarilyā€¦ Nvidia may change their mind.

The other graphics card makers, AMD and Intel release full hardware and software details.

48

Then Iā€™ll keep hoping :slight_smile:, Perhaps someday NVIDIA will discover why the other graphics card manufacturers do what they do, and follow suite.

Ernie