Re: [OT] Crazy idea: Design open-source graphics chip

[Timothy Miller <miller@techsource.com>]

Richard B. Johnson wrote:

> 
> 
> With the press Linux is getting from the IBM/Linux advertisements
> for the US football games, etc., methinks it won't be long before
> NVidia and all the rest go open-source, just to jump onto that
> band-wagon. They just need a smart way to protect their intellectual
> property.
> 


Indeed!  And this may make the whole idea of an open-arch GPU a pipe-dream.

Honestly, we don't _need_ an open-arch GPU.  We just need something 
whose register set is fully publically documented.

But an open-arch GPU would be NEAT, though.  :)


Hmmm... If I understand this right, one of the reasons nVidia doesn't 
release open source drivers is that they don't own all of the IP in 
their cores.  I wonder what that IP is and if the open-source community 
couldn't collaborate to produce LGPL-like replacements.