Message-ID: <40193BAA.50905@techsource.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 11:58:18 -0500
From: Timothy Miller <miller@techsource.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: root@chaos.analogic.com
CC: chakkerz@optusnet.com.au,
       Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [OT] Crazy idea:  Design open-source graphics chip
References: <4017F2C0.4020001@techsource.com> <200401291211.05461.chakkerz@optusnet.com.au> <40193136.4070607@techsource.com> <Pine.LNX.4.53.0401291127090.13834@chaos>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0401291127090.13834@chaos>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Content-Length: 1086
Lines: 32


Richard B. Johnson wrote:

> 
> 
> With the press Linux is getting from the IBM/Linux advertisements
> for the US football games, etc., methinks it won't be long before
> NVidia and all the rest go open-source, just to jump onto that
> band-wagon. They just need a smart way to protect their intellectual
> property.
> 


Indeed!  And this may make the whole idea of an open-arch GPU a pipe-dream.

Honestly, we don't _need_ an open-arch GPU.  We just need something 
whose register set is fully publically documented.

But an open-arch GPU would be NEAT, though.  :)


Hmmm... If I understand this right, one of the reasons nVidia doesn't 
release open source drivers is that they don't own all of the IP in 
their cores.  I wonder what that IP is and if the open-source community 
couldn't collaborate to produce LGPL-like replacements.

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/