"NVIDIA is the Single Worst Company We've Ever Dealt With:" Linus Torvalds

[newtekie1]

NVidia has always had a hands off approach to Linux. I thought it was common knowledge to avoid nVidia if you wanted to run linux and have decent video hardware support. And, IMO, that is a perfectly legitimate stance to have. Yes, it would be nice if they better supported Linux, but honestly why would they? The market share for linux is so small that putting all that development time into proper support likely wouldn't amount to a profit.

And the girl asking the question annoys me. She is smart enough to use linux on a daily basis, but not smart enough to pick hardware that properly supports it? WTF?!

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

NVidia has always had a hands off approach to Linux. I thought it was common knowledge to avoid nVidia if you wanted to run linux and have decent video hardware support. And, IMO, that is a perfectly legitimate stance to have. Yes, it would be nice if they better supported Linux, but honestly why would they? The market share for linux is so small that putting all that development time into proper support likely wouldn't amount to a profit.

im no linux fan , ive not a clue how to use it and had the clearly blinkerred view you and nvidia have before, but ive an android phone now so things change and nvidias views on linux need to change, and will, id put my left(rights not leavin me) arm on nvidia backing linux or fadeing from this world,tegra2,3,4,5,8,99,x, denver nuff said.

Huang would no sooner cut his left tatty off then loose mobile Oem contracts, so they will get in line.

 

[Xyvik]

As someone who has only had a very minor professional dealing with nVidia that was absolutely atrocious, I'm glad to hear somebody much more in the public eye bashing nVidia. For many many years they have had a "I'm holier than thou, and prettier to boot" attitude that I simply can't stomach. I think it's better when people, even in business, speak their emotions and their thoughts rather than always trying to be "politically correct." If you've had bad experiences with a company that simply refuses to work with you, then call them out on it. Sure, you might lose a few of the pure fanboi customers, but who wants them anyway?

 

[Cool Vibrations]

It was only a matter of time till the aaltotalk reached major tech sites. Good one, Linus. Tell them how it is. Nvidia's support for Linux is indeed pretty bad and anyone defending them is a true fanboy.

 

[Drone]

Emotion or reason ... I do not care. Linus is right anyway.

 

[deadmansclick]

NVidia has always had a hands off approach to Linux. I thought it was common knowledge to avoid nVidia if you wanted to run linux and have decent video hardware support. And, IMO, that is a perfectly legitimate stance to have. Yes, it would be nice if they better supported Linux, but honestly why would they? The market share for linux is so small that putting all that development time into proper support likely wouldn't amount to a profit.

And the girl asking the question annoys me. She is smart enough to use linux on a daily basis, but not smart enough to pick hardware that properly supports it? WTF?!

I agree. The comment you make about the girls question just reminds me of smart people trying to tell me that apple is the way to go

 

[trickson]

It's all about the MONEY!

 

[qubit]

It's all about the MONEY!

No way!

 

[Jurassic1024]

We don't have the full story yet, but the lynching has already begun...

 

[newtekie1]

im no linux fan , ive not a clue how to use it and had the clearly blinkerred view you and nvidia have before, but ive an android phone now so things change and nvidias views on linux need to change, and will, id put my left(rights not leavin me) arm on nvidia backing linux or fadeing from this world,tegra2,3,4,5,8,99,x, denver nuff said.

Huang would no sooner cut his left tatty off then loose mobile Oem contracts, so they will get in line.

I think the smartphone/android market is a different story entirely. They've embraced that market a lot compared to the PC side because of their Tegra project. It is the PC side that I was talking about. I mean, I didn't hear a lot of people complain about android on the tegra platform, my Droid X2 seems to work wonderfully.

But of course the Android marketshare is a much bigger one to capture compared to the PC Linux share, they are pretty much totally different beasts. And Android has the backing of google, with google willing to put some dev time into making their OS work properly. But in the end, there is money to be made on Android, and not money to be made with PC Linux.

 

[Kreij]

We don't have the full story yet, but the lynching has already begun...

There's no such thing as a bad day for a good hangin'.

 

[trickson]

Hey Linux you want some thing better to work with? Then make a mainstream OS like Windows or SHUT THE FUCK UP!

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Hey Linux you want some thing better to work with? Then make a mainstream OS like Windows or SHUT THE FUCK UP!

what a whimsickle delight it is to see you back trickson, where have you been, your not snaggin me

 

[trickson]

what a whimsickle delight it is to see you back trickson, where have you been, your not snaggin me

LOL. Well really! Come on Linux is nothing more than a novelty OS nothing more! And then they cry about it as if they are entitled! The dip shit even flipped the bird and said fuck you to nVidia! WTF? Yeah that should get them to work with you so much more closer!

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

LOL. Well really! Come on Linux is nothing more than a novelty OS nothing more! And then they cry about it as if they are entitled! The dip shit even flipped the bird and said fuck you to nVidia! WTF? Yeah that should get them to work with you so much more closer!

i might once have agreed, but id have been daft,,

Androids rule this planet now and will probably evolve into our everything and masters, and they are based on lynux,,,,,, nvidia want to sell Soc's for these devices and the best way to do that is,,, to show off your Tech,,, small fry my ass theirs many a potential win for consumer and nvidia going awry here..

 

[newtekie1]

i might once have agreed, but id have been daft,,

Androids rule this planet now and will probably evolve into our everything and masters, and they are based on lynux,,,,,, nvidia want to sell Soc's for these devices and the best way to do that is,,, to show off your Tech,,, small fry my ass theirs many a potential win for consumer and nvidia going awry here..

That is the thing though, Torvalds has nothing really to do with Android, so his comment doesn't tell us anything about how nVidia is dealing with Android.

Yes, Android is Linux based, but it is at this point a totally different beast from PC Linux. So making assumptions that nVidia is handling Android the same way they handle PC Linux is not that smart.

And quite frankly, Android being based of Linux doesn't mean it is Linux. If you ask Google, the people who created Android, Android is not Linux. Weather or not Android can be considered Linux is still being argued. Of course Torvalds thinks Android is Linux, because then he can claim it's success as his. I bet if you went to the guys at AT&T and Bell Labs and asked them if Linux was Unix, they say it was...

 

[trickson]

i might once have agreed, but id have been daft,,

Androids rule this planet now and will probably evolve into our everything and masters, and they are based on lynux,,,,,, nvidia want to sell Soc's for these devices and the best way to do that is,,, to show off your Tech,,, small fry my ass theirs many a potential win for consumer and nvidia going awry here..

I hate smart phones. If you are so dumb as to not know where you are in your own town then get a map! If you are so dependent on a smart phone and app to help you out every day of your life you need to seek some real help and fast!
What is the world coming to when I need to tell my smart phone to remind me to clean up my home? How lazy and stupid are we any way? Really people! so your android phone has a nVidia video card? OH man!

 

[Kreij]

What is the world coming to ...

Just wake up from a long nap or something? People can't live anymore without texting, sharing pictures, facebook and the like.

For the record ... I have a dumb phone. It's just for calling people.

 

[newtekie1]

I hate smart phones. If you are so dumb as to not know where you are in your own town then get a map! If you are so dependent on a smart phone and app to help you out every day of your life you need to seek some real help and fast!
What is the world coming to when I need to tell my smart phone to remind me to clean up my home? How lazy and stupid are we any way? Really people! so your android phone has a nVidia video card? OH man!

Yeah, that makes total sense. I service Chicago, ever major Chicago suburb, and NWI. I could have 50 maps of every city in my car, that makes so much more sense than just using my Smartphone...

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

What's the issue specifically? I was running Ubuntu on an AMD system and didn't have any problems... other than my initial Linux n00biness.

I believe it was re. the ease of getting proper 3D support functioning and perhaps also performance-related gripes about AMD cards under Linux compared to NV but I'm less sure about the latter.

 

[trickson]

Just wake up from a long nap or something? People can't live anymore without texting, sharing pictures, facebook and the like.

For the record ... I have a dumb phone. It's just for calling people.

No just got the divorce!

For the record I hope to GOD in Heaven that the SUN will blast out a CME so big that it wipes out all this shit! Really I do! I have no use for texting, WTF is that all about any way? You text some one WHY? Send a letter a phone is to TALK to people not tell you to feed the baby! Or take a shit! The problem is this as I see it. Technology has gone just way to far and now we are seeing the results of this as the dumbing down of the people of the world. Most people are so stupid now they need a GPS in there car to go 3 blocks away from there home! I mean COME ON! Grow a brain think for your self learn things from a book! Please GOD send this planet a CME so large the aurora's will be seen in Texas!

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Dude I hate talking on the damn phone. Especially in public. Texting is a godsend IMO. And I'm an older, relatively-frumpy fuck like you. Well maybe not quite that much.

 

[ocre]

nvidia wants to protect its technology best it can. They support linux completely with drivers, very stable and good drivers at that. They just havent been generous when it comes to giving away their code. Nvidia would rather give out drivers they made for linux than give away their code to open source. If you think about it, why would nvidia want to give away their secrets? Stuff like optimus gives nvidia a competitive edge, lots of money went into it and people really expect nvidia to give this code away to the open source.

the difference between nvidia and other companies is that nvidia considers itself a software company just as much as it is hardware. They have invested handsomely into their software and have some of the best programmers they can grab up. They think highly of their software and want to protect it. Its their investment.

I dont understand what the issue really is
nvidia has drivers available to anyone who uses Linux. There is no need to try to reverse engineer them in the first place. These guys are making a big fuss and it makes you wonder what the underline reasoning is. What are they really lacking here? Nvidia has every reason to protect their technology.

 

[trickson]

Dude I hate talking on the damn phone. Especially in public. Texting is a godsend IMO. And I'm an older, relatively-frumpy fuck like you.

Then do not talk in public! I mean all this smart phone this app that ipod this ipad that. Have you not seen just how dumb this is making humans? How many here know how to read a MAP? I do! I know North, South, East and West but now the Smart phone does all the work for you no need to grow a brain!

 

[faramir]

I agree. The comment you make about the girls question just reminds me of smart people trying to tell me that apple is the way to go

Well, you don't appear to be too bright either, in spite of your snide remak. The girl in video mentioned she bought her computer quite some time ago [when Optimus was fresh] and assumed NVidia would come up with support for it eventually [as they had with basic functions of their graphics cards such as displaying picture]. Not an unreasonable expectation from a paying customer to have a product supported in full. Others have listed examples of companies that either care enough to support their products directly (be it with open or closed drivers) or at least volunteer the information needed to others so they can do their work for them, at no cost.

The comment you made reminds me of dumb people tryiong to tell me that - in their opinion - somebody else isn't very smart, while they seem to be pretty thick themselves.