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Technology Stocks : Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI)

SGI 88.35

-0.3%

Nov 14 9:30 AM EST

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To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (7825)	10/2/2000 11:18:09 PM
From: Thomas A Watson	Read Replies (1) of 14451

NVIDIA's Drivers Only Partly Open Source From tomshardware. tomshardware.com The Linux community has one big complaint about NVIDIA's driver. Shocking - it's not completely open-source! Many Linux-cracks see this as a clear sacrilege as it is the deep philosophy of GNU that all software has to be available in source code. I spoke to Dan Vivoli (NVIDIA's VP Marketing) about this touchy issue and it was obvious from the beginning that it wasn't one of his favorite topics to talk about. The story is supposed to be pretty simple. The 'closed' part of NVIDIA's driver is the results of a strong cooperation between NVIDIA and SGI. It contains intellectual property of SGI, which is not to be disclosed. Additionally it also contains routines that NVIDIA doesn't want to have out in the open, because it might give competitors the chance to 'steal' their technology. I personally can understand this attitude, even though many of you Linux-people are shouting 'murder'. Look at lovely Rambus Inc., which is basing its whole business on 'IP'=intellectual property'. As the success of GNU/Linux continues, we will probably see more 'closed source', which is a requirement for many developers to remain in business. Accept it or despise it. I understand either point of view. Open source is required to give the excellent developers (a.k.a. hackers) in the Linux-community the chance to assure continued improvement of Linux-software. In the past Linux could not have existed or evolved without this philosophy. Today however, companies want to make money with GNU/Linux, as paradox as that may sound to some. A company like NVIDIA doesn't give other developers the chance to improve their drivers, but at the same time it takes the responsibility to provide good drivers by itself. One would think that a manufacturer like NVIDIA with its excellent team of driver developers is suited best to carry this responsibility, since it's obviously in its own interest to ensure good performance. ...... Tom Watson tosiwmee

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