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.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KaOS Linux 2024.05 Adds Bcachfs Support and More
With updates all around, KaOS Linux now includes support for the bcachefs file system.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils New Iteration of the Stellaris Laptop Line
The Stellaris Slim 15 is the 6th generation and includes either an AMD or Intel CPU
-
KDE Releases Plasma 6.0.5
The latest release of the Plasma desktop has arrived with several improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Gnome OS Adopting systemd-sysupdate
Gnome OS is about to undergo a major under-the-hood change that promises enhanced security.
-
Endless OS 6 Now Available
After more than a year since the last update, the latest release of Endless OS is now available for general usage.
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.