Open Graphics schematics posted

Posted Mar 7, 2006 17:30 UTC (Tue) by elanthis (guest, #6227)
In reply to: Open Graphics schematics posted by yodermk
Parent article: Open Graphics schematics posted

What real return on investment would those companies see? They don't sell hardware. They sell software. The existance of the OGC isn't going to at all be useful to a Linux vendor unless the hardware vendors start using it extensively, and the OGC has to compete against the likes of Intel and Via on the low end, and can't hope to compete against NVIDIA and ATI on the high end.

That's not to say that the OGC can't succeed. But the ROI is just not good looking for any Linux vendor that isn't also in the hardware business.

Open Graphics schematics posted

Posted Mar 7, 2006 17:39 UTC (Tue) by yodermk (subscriber, #3803) [Link]

Then perhaps Penguin Computing should help fund it.

An Open card does seem like a real boon to Red Hat though. As they get into pushing the Linux desktop more, such a card would really help their system to work better on more computers, given their refusal to ship proprietary drivers.

Even the for-pay distros like Xandros and Linspire could benefit. I suppose they have no practical problem shipping closed drivers at the moment, but their business is dependant on the video supplier, a similar problem to depending on any other proprietary software. What will they do if nVidia and ATI decide to quit supporting Linux?

Open Graphics schematics posted

Posted Mar 7, 2006 20:41 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (guest, #216) [Link] (1 responses)

Except for the enormous goodwill it would create for that company, which shouldn't be overlooked. ROI can appear in more ways that just dollars. It also might function as a lever to encourage the majors (NVidia, ATI) to look more kindly on opening their specs.

In their best interests

Posted Mar 8, 2006 9:25 UTC (Wed) by eru (subscriber, #2753) [Link]

Besides if all the major Linux vendors sponsored the project, the cost per vendor would probably be small. Probably could be sunk into their PR budgets. Linux vendors often sponsor software projects, so there is no reason why they couldn't sponsor a hardware project that in the future could help reduce their headaches related to graphics software.