VIA Announces Open Source Driver Initiative

[praka123]

This is great new for open source in general. VIA is the latest company to embrace the benefits of open source technology.

Austin, Texas, 8 April 2008 -

Today at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, announced a new initiative to improve support for the Open Source development community.

As the first step in this initiative, VIA will open its official VIA Linux website at http://linux.via.com.tw this month. The site will initially host drivers, technical documentation, source code, and information regarding the VIA CN700, CX700/M, CN896 and the new VIA VX800 chipsets, with plans to add official forums and support for more products later on in the year.

Over the following months, VIA will work with the community to enable 2D, 3D and video playback acceleration to ensure the best possible Open Source experience on VIA Processor Platforms.

To further improve cooperation with the community, VIA will also adhere to a regular quarterly release schedule that is aligned with kernel changes and release of major Linux distributions. In addition, beta releases will be issued on the site as needed, and a bug report and tracking feature will also be integrated.

"This announcement is the first step in the implementation of our new initiative to better serve the needs of the Open Source community," commented Richard Brown, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "We are strongly committed to improving the levels of collaboration with the community and adopting a more consistent approach across VIA Processor Platform technologies."

"We are delighted that VIA has announced its commitment to enhance support for the Linux and Open Source community," commented Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. "This action will open up exciting new opportunities for accelerating open source innovation around VIA platforms and ultimately delivering a better user experience."


About VIA Technologies, Inc.

VIA Technologies, Inc is the foremost fabless supplier of power efficient x86 processor platforms that are driving system innovation in the PC, client, ultra mobile and embedded markets. Combining energy-saving processors with digital media chipsets and advanced connectivity, multimedia and networking silicon enables a broad spectrum of computing and communication platforms, including its widely acclaimed ultra compact mainboards. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, VIA's global network links the high tech centers of the US, Europe and Asia, and its customer base includes the world's top OEMs and system integrators. www.via.com.tw

source
http://www.aselabs.com/singlenews.php?id=4532
through :
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl...8/04/08/202227

@gary:u will be happy now?

[CadCrazy]

Very good news. Now we can expect even more cost effective linux based system.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Via had to do it, with more laptops and lower end systems being capable of running linux, one thing that kept people away from via was the linux video acceleration. Hence, if via can make them work good, then I would expect much more cheaper laptops like the Eee PC as via is one of the cheapest solutions.

[MetalheadGautham]

they only did this out of fear that intel atom might take their market share away, because atom is equal to via in quality, higher in driver support and lower in cost. (or atleast its supposed to be once it comes out.) So VIA needs this move to stop future EEE PC, Ultra Mini, etc type notebook manufacturers from moving to intel atom or amd geode.

[praka123]

well,already http://openchrome.org had developed almost good drivers.

[gxsaurav]

This is great new for open source in general. VIA is the latest company to embrace the benefits of open source technology.

Judging by the ammount of money VIA spends on R&D of drivers, I would rather say this move is to cut driver developement costs.

Let the OSS users develop drivers in there free time etc, while VIA will use that freely developed drivers for there hardware

[gary4gar]

Cr@p, i just invested in a AGP Graphics card after waiting for 2 years


But good move by via for Linux in General, now the most poorly supported chipsets would now be supported. seem loose ends in linux driver support are being taken care of

I am Happy now, From now on NO DAMN YOU VIA

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by praka123

well,already http://openchrome.org had developed almost good drivers.

Believe me the state of openchrome drivers as of today is pathetic. Its the worst driver on the linux platform produced by any company!!! Just get to its core and you'll know.

Originally Posted by gary4gar

Cr@p, i just invested in a AGP Graphics card after waiting for 2 years

Don't worry, you've done the right thing

[gary4gar]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

Believe me the state of openchrome drivers as of today is pathetic. Its the worst driver on the linux platform produced by any company!!! Just get to its core and you'll know.

Who know better than me, i have used that silly driver for past two years. 3d lockup are as frequent as day& night

[Pathik]

Rather this is good news for VIA.

[praka123]

Originally Posted by gary4gar

Who know better than me, i have used that silly driver for past two years. 3d lockup are as frequent as day& night

I installed Ubuntu Gutsy freshly on the via unichrome p4m800 chipset board.
Ubuntu bundled openchrome driver.it worked perfectly
-based on this experience,I wrote above post

[gary4gar]

Good to know it works out of box, but what about 3d?

[praka123]

^yes,that too

[gary4gar]

Originally Posted by praka123

^yes,that too

Really, does Compiz-fusion work?

If yes then cool, but till i was using it. 3d was working with lockups
maybe a newer verison

[praka123]

well,compiz by default worked(minimal effects). (Do u know that I have exchanged this via mobo to my relative?I just dumped this mobo after all it was taking rest on my shelves for loong time Escaped HAHA!)

[ray|raven]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Judging by the ammount of money VIA spends on R&D of drivers, I would rather say this move is to cut driver developement costs.

Let the OSS users develop drivers in there free time etc, while VIA will use that freely developed drivers for there hardware

Believe me , that never works.

Heard of Xara ? , the company ,made some parts of its code opensource and hoped the community would go and develop a nix port.

They were wrong and its linux port is now close to dead.