open source graphics card

[Oliver Fromme]

Note:  This is off-topic on the -stable list, so it should
better go to the -chat list.

Volker <volker at vwsoft.com> wrote:
 > I've followed the thread "don't buy ati products" not very closely
 > but one thing comes to mind:
 > 
 > Years ago we've had a lot of card / chip manufacturers on the
 > market. When thinking about this currently really just two chip
 > manufacturers are coming into my mind. This is bad.
 > 
 > It's probably a crazy idea but what about an open source graphics card?
 > 
 > There are similar projects already like OsCar so the idea of open
 > source hardware development is not really new but probably exciting.
 > Aren't there any hw devs reading and motivated?
 > 
 > Imagine a graphics chip with a BSD style license... ;)
 > 
 > Just dreaming?

Yes, just dreaming.

In today's graphics cards there are _huge_ amounts of
know-how, a considerable number of patents and a large
amount of research and development time.  Modern GPUs
contain several hundreds of millions of transistors and
require a 90nm (or less) fabrication process.

Another thing to keep in mind: In order to produce a
competitive graphics card today (at a competitive price!),
it must be at least on par with the "big ones", which
requires DirectX 9 and HDCP support, among other things.
Did I already mention patents?

Personally, I prefer intel graphics (i915, i945 etc.).
They have open-source drivers that work very well.  The
3D performance is not as good as the top-of-the-line ATI
or nVidia products, but it's good enough to play OpenGL
games such as ports/games/crack-attack or kobo-deluxe.
That's more than enough for me.

YMMV, of course.

Best regards
   Oliver

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