Since the Catalyst suite became a reality for Windows users, Linux users were left wondering whether these exciting features would also make it to everyone's favourite Open Source operating system. In the past few months there have been rumors that ATI will go ahead and revamp its Linux suite, some even said that a Linux Catalyst release was in the pipeline. To attempt to set the record straight and to find out the truth, me and Alpha prepared some questions for ATI concerning its Linux drivers, and today, one day before the Catalyst 3.8 release, we are happy to exclusively present some new information concerning ATI's intentions coming from no other than Terry Makedon himself. So here it is :
A big "Thank you" to ATI and Terry Makedon for answering those questions for us!
Discuss
- What is ATI's strategy concerning Linux and other *nix OSes?
ATI is committed to producing stable drivers that provide top notch support for our Workstation, Desktop and Mobile chipsets under Linux is our current aim, and as the drivers mature other platforms or architectures may appear. In regards to other UNIX OSes ATI actively assists 3rd parties in the development of driver support for all viable platforms.
- Are you happy with the current ATI drivers for Linux?
The drivers are maturing very rapidly, and we are happy with where their current status relative to their age.
- Why aren't there specific drivers for the Radeon cards and only for FireGL cards?
ATI produces a unified driver for products in the Workstation, Desktop, and Mobile market segments. The driver name shows more of the history of the driver, the FireGL developers who originally developed the drivers named it that way. Support for Radeon cards was added to the driver later the name stuck. The current driver supports most current Desktop Radeons from the 8500, most Mobile Chipsets from the Mobility M9 and all Workstation (FireGL) products from the FireGL 8700.
- You announced recently in the Rage3D forums that you would start picking beta testers for Linux drivers. How is the process going?
We have selected some beta testers, and they received the drivers prior to our release of the 3.2.5 drivers. These beta testers were invaluable in highlighting some rough edges for later releases. Similar to the Windows CATALYST drivers, we intend to have an active Beta program prior to each release.
- Are we going to see the CATALYST suite "ported" to Linux/*nix OSes, with the same functionality and stability/performance?
As the market dictates we will be adding CATALYST features to Linux. There are a number of components from the CATALYST suite that we are eyeing for inclusion, a lot of the initial porting will be under the hood (and invisible to the user).
- Is there a timetable that you can share with us about ATI's plans to revamp the Linux drivers (if such possibility exists)?
The Linux drivers are always undergoing improvement, some major and visible (like TV-Out support in the recent release, other changes are major and invisible.
- Is there going to be a specific interval (like the 12 releases per year for the CATALYST suite) that ATI is going to release Linux drivers?
I can’t comment on this right now, but wait for CATALYST 3.8.
- Does ATI foresee a growth in the amount of games for Linux as a result of their new Linux driver commitment?
I don’t believe driver availability will drive the development of games for Linux. ISV’s are in business to make a buck and with Linux this has proven to be very difficult.
- Can we expect to see Linux drivers coming on cd with new cards in the future? For support out of the box.
As the drivers mature, we are hoping to have them qualified and included on the CDs.
- Will you being working with companies such as Redhat/SuSe/Mandrake/etc to include these prepackaged drivers?
We are working with various vendors to ensure that our drivers can be packaged if possible with the particular distribution vendor. Our downloadable driver packages will evolve to ensure easy installation for end users irrespective of which distribution they choose.
- Anything specific you can tell us about future release’s? Will the 3.8’s be just as big for Linux as it will be for Windows?
Technologically, the release as part of the CATALYST 3.8 will be incremental on the recent 3.2.5. Covering some of the major issues that our customers and users found with those drivers.
The movement of the Linux drivers into the CATALYST fold does mean something very important to users - similar to the phenomenal success of the Windows CATALYST drivers, the Linux drivers will pick up on the important attributes of the CATALYST program.
The attributes that we are focusing on currently are
- What will the move of the FireGL driver development mean for the future Linux drivers and what was the reason behind it?
The move will allow us to be more responsive to the end user issues as well as ultimately build more fully featured drivers.
ATI is committed to producing stable drivers that provide top notch support for our Workstation, Desktop and Mobile chipsets under Linux is our current aim, and as the drivers mature other platforms or architectures may appear. In regards to other UNIX OSes ATI actively assists 3rd parties in the development of driver support for all viable platforms.
- Are you happy with the current ATI drivers for Linux?
The drivers are maturing very rapidly, and we are happy with where their current status relative to their age.
- Why aren't there specific drivers for the Radeon cards and only for FireGL cards?
ATI produces a unified driver for products in the Workstation, Desktop, and Mobile market segments. The driver name shows more of the history of the driver, the FireGL developers who originally developed the drivers named it that way. Support for Radeon cards was added to the driver later the name stuck. The current driver supports most current Desktop Radeons from the 8500, most Mobile Chipsets from the Mobility M9 and all Workstation (FireGL) products from the FireGL 8700.
- You announced recently in the Rage3D forums that you would start picking beta testers for Linux drivers. How is the process going?
We have selected some beta testers, and they received the drivers prior to our release of the 3.2.5 drivers. These beta testers were invaluable in highlighting some rough edges for later releases. Similar to the Windows CATALYST drivers, we intend to have an active Beta program prior to each release.
- Are we going to see the CATALYST suite "ported" to Linux/*nix OSes, with the same functionality and stability/performance?
As the market dictates we will be adding CATALYST features to Linux. There are a number of components from the CATALYST suite that we are eyeing for inclusion, a lot of the initial porting will be under the hood (and invisible to the user).
- Is there a timetable that you can share with us about ATI's plans to revamp the Linux drivers (if such possibility exists)?
The Linux drivers are always undergoing improvement, some major and visible (like TV-Out support in the recent release, other changes are major and invisible.
- Is there going to be a specific interval (like the 12 releases per year for the CATALYST suite) that ATI is going to release Linux drivers?
I can’t comment on this right now, but wait for CATALYST 3.8.
- Does ATI foresee a growth in the amount of games for Linux as a result of their new Linux driver commitment?
I don’t believe driver availability will drive the development of games for Linux. ISV’s are in business to make a buck and with Linux this has proven to be very difficult.
- Can we expect to see Linux drivers coming on cd with new cards in the future? For support out of the box.
As the drivers mature, we are hoping to have them qualified and included on the CDs.
- Will you being working with companies such as Redhat/SuSe/Mandrake/etc to include these prepackaged drivers?
We are working with various vendors to ensure that our drivers can be packaged if possible with the particular distribution vendor. Our downloadable driver packages will evolve to ensure easy installation for end users irrespective of which distribution they choose.
- Anything specific you can tell us about future release’s? Will the 3.8’s be just as big for Linux as it will be for Windows?
Technologically, the release as part of the CATALYST 3.8 will be incremental on the recent 3.2.5. Covering some of the major issues that our customers and users found with those drivers.
The movement of the Linux drivers into the CATALYST fold does mean something very important to users - similar to the phenomenal success of the Windows CATALYST drivers, the Linux drivers will pick up on the important attributes of the CATALYST program.
The attributes that we are focusing on currently are
- stability,
- support,
- performance
- (most important to end users) regular updates timed to coincide with the Windows CATALYST releases.
- What will the move of the FireGL driver development mean for the future Linux drivers and what was the reason behind it?
The move will allow us to be more responsive to the end user issues as well as ultimately build more fully featured drivers.
Discuss
like titanic. What it takes to do an 7xxx series drivers, much of effort of ati linux developers... really I don't think so. Ati has only lazy ass nothing more.
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