Nouveau Becomes NVIDIA's New Standard Driver
The NV driver served for a long time as the standard driver for NVIDIA graphic cards. Now Ubuntu developers have replaced it with Nouveau driver in Ubuntu 10.04. It provides more than just benefits.
Ubuntu's Bryce Harrington announced on February 19 that Nouveau drivers were officially replacing NV drivers for NVIDIA hardware. In fact, he said, "If you own NVIDIA hardware and are not using the proprietary drivers, you will be affected by this change."
The decision to go with Nouveau is based among other things on its use of kernel-mode setting. Thanks to KMS, the kernel already at bootup looks after the correct screen resolution, eliminating any flickering and making a more fluid and attractive boot process for users.
There are additional practical benefits to KMS. Switching between users is easier. Nouveau also supports dual view, running computers across two screens. Suspend and resume operations are also faster. Above all, said Harrington, Nouveau drivers are "more actively developed upstream."
The change isn't without its problems. Tests show that the new driver doesn't work with certain NVIDIA models (a list is included). However, Harrinton claims that most users should benefit from the switchover. Those not having a supported model might have to boot in secure graphics mode and use the old NV or Vesa driver.
The project is currently using Nouveau code backported from kernel 2.6.33, since Ubuntu 10.04 uses 2.6.32 that does not support Noveau KMS code. The test phase until April will thus likely result in some more changes. Nouveau also doesn't support 3D acceleration. The xorg-edgers PPA is likely to deliver a 3D version of the driver sometime in the future, although it involves some risk and isn't officially supported.
Users of NVIDIA's proprietary driver who want 3D support for games and programs, profit only indirectly from the new driver. The proprietary driver hasn't supported kernel-mode setting so far, but at least developers are thinking on it. One good thing is that they want to simplify the post-installation switch from the open Nouveau driver to the proprietary NVIDIA driver. As it is, the best opportunity to check out the new driver might be until February 25, when the third alpha of Ubuntu 10.04 should be released.
Issue 41: Linux Shell Handbook 2021 Edition/Special Editions
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
KDE Launches the Qt 5 Patch Collection
To support and maintain a stable Qt 5 for KDE Gears and Frameworks, KDE will maintain a patch collection.
-
Linux Creator Warns Next Kernel Could be Delayed
Linus Torvalds has issued concern about the size of kernel 5.12 and possible delays for its release.
-
System76 Updates its Pangolin Laptop
System76 has released a much-anticipated AMD version of their most popular laptop, the Pangolin.
-
New Debian-Based Distribution Arrives on the Market
TelOS is a new Debian-based Linux distribution with a customized, touch-screen-ready KDE Plasma 5 desktop.
-
System76 Releases New Thelio Desktop
One of the most ardent supporters of open source hardware has released a new desktop machine for home or office.
-
Mageia 8 Now Available with Linux 5.10 LTS
The latest release of Mageia includes improved graphics support for both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
-
GNOME 40 Beta has been Released
Anyone looking to test the beta for the upcoming GNOME 40 release can now do so.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 4.2 has Arrived
The latest stable version of OpenMandriva has been released and offers the newest KDE desktop and ARM support.
-
Thunderbird 78 Ported to Ubuntu 20.04
The Ubuntu developers have made the decision to port the latest release of Thunderbird to the LTS version of the platform.
-
Elementary OS is Bringing Multi-Touch Gestures to the OS
User-friendly Linux distribution, elementary OS, is working to make using the fan-favorite platform even better for laptops.