[Open-graphics] Re: Open-graphics Digest, Vol 2, Issue 47

[Kent Rosenkoetter]

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 14:58:06 -0500, Timothy Miller
<miller at techsource.com> wrote:
> Steve Baker wrote:
> 
> > Timothy Miller wrote:
> >
> >  > In the end, many aspects of the internals of the design will be
> >  > published, some scattered, some formalized.  I mean, you need to know
> >  > how it works in order to program it, right?  I just can't give you the
> >  > SOURCE CODE.  Besides, the source code would be useless to most people.
> >  >  You'd be much better off asking me something than trying to figure it
> >  > out yourself.
> >
> > Just re-read what you just wrote!  Only let's pretend this is an email
> > from the boss of nVidia and he's talking about the GeForce's Linux
> > device drivers.
> >
> > Now - what you just said is PRECISELY the reason why every single
> > person is on this list.  If we were happy with what you just said
> > then we might as well just buy an nVidia card - which will be
> > about a thousand times faster, probably half to a third of the
> > price and better supported.
> >
> > The only reason people are here is precisely that they *DO* desire
> > access to the internals - for whatever reason.
> 
> I wonder... did you ever spend time bugging Linus Torvalds about getting
> Transmeta to open source their code morphing software?
> 
> The code morphing software really is SOFTWARE, but I've never seen
> people demand that it be opened up.  It's the big value-add that
> Transmeta has for their processors.  What's important is that they
> release specs for everything you need to know about how to USE the
> processors, even tips and tricks for optimizing your code to get better
> morphing results, etc.

I think the appropriate analogy is that we need to keep the ISA open,
not the circuit layout. No one badgers Intel for the internals of the
Pentium. Why should we badger nVidia for the internals of the GeForce?
All we need are the fully-documented interfaces. The ISA of the
graphics card. (And for programmable cards, the ISA of the shaders.)
This is what so many hardware vendors won't give up, and this is what
this project was originally predicated upon. Right?

Kent Rosenkoetter
-- 
        The world before the fall
        Delightful is the light of dawn
        Noble is the heart of man...
                        -Cyan Garamonde, Final Fantasy VI