NVIDIA switching to open kernel modules by default in future driver update for Turing+ (www.gamingonlinux.com)
from joojmachine@lemmy.ml to linux@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 14:59
https://lemmy.ml/post/15516244

#linux

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henfredemars@infosec.pub on 11 May 2024 15:21 next collapse

Please. I hate all the incompatibility when trying to build a custom kernel.

seaQueue@lemmy.world on 11 May 2024 15:27 collapse

If they’re proactive about taking patches this will really help reduce issues with the dkms driver

taanegl@beehaw.org on 11 May 2024 15:48 next collapse

It’s a weird time to live in, but not confusing. It’s obvious to see that what you really want as a vendor is control over the operating system stack itself, and relying on Microsoft has become challenging.

In essence what NVIDIA is doing is bringing it’s entire GPU driver stack open source side, so that entire industries say go on buying tons more hardware.

Us Linux enthusiasts get to reap the benefit, what with entire open source movements bringing libraries to Linux side first that can turn GPU hardware into whatever tool you’d like. Projects like PyTorch and ffmpeg run as first class citizens on Linux.

Windows still relies on either shared DotNet stack (which will make a monkey out of you - cough cough) or the nearly ancient MSYS2 build environment. Microsoft of course prefers you run all that software inside their Linux container system known as WSL - and there’s a reason for that.

The Linux graphics stack is looking more “feature complete” by the month, bringing up the question of where you actually get the best hardware support. This is a good question to have.

Now, if only the open source desktop movements could clean house, figure out funding and get their stacks in order, we might finally, for the umpteenth time, maybe see the year of the Linux desktop.

I grow old with anticipation, but seeing what NVIDIA did in the before time versus what they do in the now puts a smirk on this haggered face.

Onwards to the future.

lemmyvore@feddit.nl on 11 May 2024 16:33 next collapse

Now, if only the open source desktop movements could clean house, figure out funding and get their stacks in order,

Yeah that will never happen, naturally. 🙂

we might finally, for the umpteenth time, maybe see the year of the Linux desktop.

This one might happen, eventually. But not due to concerted effort – of which there has been no shortage, it has seen and continues to see constant, fervent improvement. It will happen because Microsoft is letting their guard down.

Linux is on every platform and being used for almost everything. If left alone it tends to expand eventually and fill every nook and cranny. Microsoft has been keeping the desktop airtight for several decades now but they seem to have hit a dead-end. (When you start putting ads in the start menu it’s a sign you’re going brain-dead.) The innovation gap has been widening steadily for a decade now and the industry will go where the fresh stuff is happening.

It will be interesting to see if they get off their ass and get back in the game or start throwing their weight around like in the good old '90s and try to pull everybody down.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 17:45 next collapse

Now, if only the open source desktop movements could clean house, figure out funding

i always say this has to be done at the license level. gpl but paid for corporations.

arthur@lemmy.zip on 12 May 2024 00:59 collapse

Interesting, but seems difficult to enforce

eleitl@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 18:35 next collapse

You seem to trust Nvidia. I don’t.

hitmyspot@aussie.zone on 12 May 2024 05:45 next collapse

Trust their motivation. They are worried that ai including LLM processing will be mainly on Linux and they’ll be left behind. They are just following where they think the money will be. It just happens to be good for Linux and consumer choice, but that’s a side effect, not the reason.

taanegl@beehaw.org on 14 May 2024 08:04 collapse

You seem to conflate “trust” with “optimism”.

Let me just make it clear, having kernel land drivers and user space drivers open source and working together is a good thing.

Sure, you’ll have to agree to a licence when installing CUDA, which will probably never be open source, but as long as the GPU hardware can be used out of the box with open source drivers means that we’ve come a long way.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip on 11 May 2024 20:58 collapse

Most of the Nvidia driver stack it proprietary

bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de on 11 May 2024 16:59 next collapse

I just wish they’d support older cards as well with the new open source stuff.

joojmachine@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 18:42 next collapse

as a 1050Ti owner (which still is more than enough for my usage), same

InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world on 11 May 2024 23:42 collapse

That explains the pain I was having with 650M.

sfera@beehaw.org on 11 May 2024 19:59 next collapse

I’m afraid that there is no profit for Nvidia to justify the work for supporting older hardware.

fossphi@lemm.ee on 11 May 2024 20:20 next collapse

I guess nouveau and friends (nova?) are there already for older cards?

Ozzy@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 20:39 next collapse

yeah it’s a bit sad. My 1080ti is still strong enough to support modern day games, and I couldn’t care less about ray tracing. Pretty annoyed with the fact they don’t support older cards.

daddyjones@lemmy.world on 12 May 2024 08:36 collapse

Yeah, my 1070 is still going very strong.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip on 11 May 2024 20:56 collapse

Honestly I think they want the older cards to die

NGC2346@sh.itjust.works on 11 May 2024 17:03 next collapse

Personally i still got Windows on a second SSD for gaming as ive had a more reliable experience there than on any linux i’ve used as daily drivers (Arch, Endeavour, Debian and now Fedora 40)…

That being said, does this mean better compatibility with, say, Wayland for example ? I would like to completely ditch Windows but this aspect has been holding me back from a complete switch for years.

F04118F@feddit.nl on 11 May 2024 17:35 collapse

Wayland Nvidia compatibility will be here soon™ Nvidia drivers needed explicit sync, which was not supported in Wayland. However, explicit sync has been merged into the Wayland protocol and should be here shortly. Gnome 46.1 already ships with it.

I do not understand fully but maybe drivers need a bit of configuration too to use this? I’m not sure of all the steps but it should be here soon

joojmachine@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 18:39 next collapse

all the necessary things are already here on the linux side AFAIK the only thing left is a stable release of their drivers with support for it, which should come relatively soon

Owljfien@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 01:37 collapse

Beta due this week I think

sxt@lemmy.world on 11 May 2024 18:27 next collapse

I believe version 555 of the Nvidia driver is supposed to get the explicit sync patch.

Rogers@lemmy.ml on 11 May 2024 21:56 next collapse

Would explicit sync solve the xwayland electron apps from UI glitching and flickering?

F04118F@feddit.nl on 12 May 2024 01:56 collapse

IIUC, yes

lightnegative@lemmy.world on 11 May 2024 21:44 next collapse

Tbh im incredulous that explicit sync wasnt a thing from day 1.

Like what kind of sane API have you ever used that didn’t allow you to buffer / queue up operations and then flush them all at once?

YIj54yALOJxEsY20eU@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 02:22 collapse

Did they need it before now?

gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works on 12 May 2024 06:20 collapse

That’ll be my switchover point too, most likely. Can’t fuckin’ wait until they get that stuff ironed out.

YIj54yALOJxEsY20eU@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 02:20 next collapse

I’ve procrastinated getting an AMD gpu for so long that I’m not going to need one! It’s still fuck you nvidia, I’m not a goldfish.

sunred@discuss.tchncs.de on 12 May 2024 06:05 collapse

You have to keep in mind that this is only about the kernel module (and only for Turing GPUs and newer). The userspace components stay proprietary. You are still not going to use the mesa graphics stack using an Nvidia gpu anytime soon.

joojmachine@lemmy.ml on 12 May 2024 18:06 collapse

with the recent development in NVK and Nouveau (and futurely Nova), you probably will relatively soon

penquin@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 02:23 next collapse

Is there a list of the supported gpus?

azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.works on 12 May 2024 03:04 collapse

Right there github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules?tab=rea…

All the RTX-es (2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx) and some newer quadro cards

penquin@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 03:54 collapse

Thank you. I have a 1080ti. Am I SOL?

azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.works on 12 May 2024 10:52 collapse

You will still get updated closed source driver

penquin@lemm.ee on 12 May 2024 13:24 collapse

I see. I thought they dropped us for good. Lol. Phew

[deleted] on 12 May 2024 12:56 next collapse

.

electricprism@lemmy.ml on 14 May 2024 06:12 collapse

I’ll hold the cake until they deliver, and after that credit when due