NVIDIA questions
 

im thingiking of building a computer and im wondering what video card is most linux compatable?

i hear that NVIDIA cards are verry linux compatable but the kernel doesnt suport them directly and to run one you must use NVIDIA's drivers?

how close am i to the truth on what i have said?

will the kernel at least let you run in command prompt without their offical drivers?

you can run a system just fine without any additional drivers, including Xwindows. what you can't do though is use the accelerated hardware in the card, OpenGL and all that twiddly stuff. if you're not fussed abuot the performance or related issues, you'll not need the nvidia.com drivers. and if you do need them they come with highly adequate docs and they are really quick to install.

so ill be able to run fluxbox without having to install their drivers?

and if i install them ill be able to do stuf that requires 3D suport, like quake 2 or quake (i hear that theres ways to get them on linux, and i have the quake 2 CD anyways)

Yes, you can run fluxbox without the NVidia drivers. The drivers included with the linux distro will do.

If you use the NVidia drivers, you'll be able to play all versions of Quake, Unreal Tournament 2003, Enemy Territory, America's Army, etc...

All you actually need the drivers for is the 3D "on-video-board" acceleration, if that makes sense. OpenGL won't work without the drivers, but every other functionality will.

For example, I have an NVIDIA GeForce 4 4600 that I use primarily for graphics editing/high resolution, and it performs WONDERFULLY. And that is without the NVIDIA drivers. If you want to play games that utilize OpenGL, THEN you'll have to install the NVIDIA drivers. Beyond that, it'll work fine...