Hi! I've followed the thread "don't buy ati products" not very closely but one thing comes to mind: Years ago we've had a lot of card / chip manufacturers on the market. When thinking about this currently really just two chip manufacturers are coming into my mind. This is bad. It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card? There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting. Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated? Imagine a graphics chip with a BSD style license... ;) Just dreaming? Volker
On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 11:22:00AM +0100, Volker wrote:> Hi! > > I've followed the thread "don't buy ati products" not very closely > but one thing comes to mind: > > Years ago we've had a lot of card / chip manufacturers on the > market. When thinking about this currently really just two chip > manufacturers are coming into my mind. This is bad. > > It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card? > > There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open > source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting. > Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated? > > Imagine a graphics chip with a BSD style license... ;) > > Just dreaming?You are not the first to have this idea. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Graphics_Project for information about one actual attempt to make such a card. -- <Insert your favourite quote here.> Erik Trulsson ertr1013@student.uu.se
> I've followed the thread "don't buy ati products" not very closely > but one thing comes to mind: > It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card? > There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open > source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting. > Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated? > Imagine a graphics chip with a BSD style license... ;) > Just dreaming?I'm 99% sure, that open source principle is suitable only for software dev. And OS car is a crappiest idea of all. Production (and research) requires very expensive equipment. Fullstop. Nothing else can be said here, I think. -- ????????? ????????????? ??? "???-?????????" ???. (3912) 609942 (144)
Ralf, On 03/16/07 11:38, Ralf Folkerts wrote: ...> there's the "Open Graphics Project" > > http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=AboutOpenGraphics > > Unfortunately I haven't heard much news from them for quite a while now :-( So I'm not sure if the Project "stalled".I haven't been aware of such a project. The project goals don't sound that bad but I guess you're right about the current project status. The last blog entry has been in 12/2005. On the other side, the site statistics do show an impressive interest in a project like that. 10k page hits per day is not that bad! Greetings, Volker
Hi Volker, [...]> It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card? > > There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open > source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting. > Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated?[...] there's the "Open Graphics Project" http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=AboutOpenGraphics Unfortunately I haven't heard much news from them for quite a while now :-( So I'm not sure if the Project "stalled". Not sure if there are other Open Source Graphics Projects? Cheers, _ralf_
Note: This is off-topic on the -stable list, so it should
better go to the -chat list.
Volker <volker@vwsoft.com> wrote:
> I've followed the thread "don't buy ati products" not
very closely
> but one thing comes to mind:
>
> Years ago we've had a lot of card / chip manufacturers on the
> market. When thinking about this currently really just two chip
> manufacturers are coming into my mind. This is bad.
>
> It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics
card?
>
> There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open
> source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting.
> Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated?
>
> Imagine a graphics chip with a BSD style license... ;)
>
> Just dreaming?
Yes, just dreaming.
In today's graphics cards there are _huge_ amounts of
know-how, a considerable number of patents and a large
amount of research and development time. Modern GPUs
contain several hundreds of millions of transistors and
require a 90nm (or less) fabrication process.
Another thing to keep in mind: In order to produce a
competitive graphics card today (at a competitive price!),
it must be at least on par with the "big ones", which
requires DirectX 9 and HDCP support, among other things.
Did I already mention patents?
Personally, I prefer intel graphics (i915, i945 etc.).
They have open-source drivers that work very well. The
3D performance is not as good as the top-of-the-line ATI
or nVidia products, but it's good enough to play OpenGL
games such as ports/games/crack-attack or kobo-deluxe.
That's more than enough for me.
YMMV, of course.
Best regards
Oliver
--
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just means pounding extra hard on the keyboard."
-- Peter van der Linden
Volker <volker@vwsoft.com> writes:> It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card?It's been done: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Graphics_Project http://wiki.duskglow.com/tiki-index.php?page=Open-Graphics DES -- Dag-Erling Sm?rgrav - des@des.no
Erik Trulsson wrote:> You are not the first to have this idea. > See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Graphics_Project for information > about one actual attempt to make such a card.I think one of the major problems lies here: """ It is hoped that this prototype will attract enough interest to gain some profit and attract investors for the next card, since it is expected to cost around $2 million dollars to start the production of a specialized ASIC design. """ Hardware is still expensive to develop.