The xf86-video-amdgpu driver is a completely different driver from the xf86-video-ati driver. Totally different driver stack.

It took me some time to feel comfortable with spending much money on PCs. When 486-DX came out I was still running a 286 and when the first Pentiums arrived I had a cheap 386. However the last time I bought and used an ATi video card, an All-in-Wonder ISA beast, was on my Tandy 8086. I had bought the 386-SX specifically to run OS/2 2.0 and shortly after bought my first nvidia card. Sometime between OS/2 2.1 and Warp 3 nVidia made available a free (albeit proprietary) driver for OS/2. That was roughly 20 years ago. As IBM's support began dwindling for OS/2 around year 1999. I started using Linux. IIRC within about 1 year nVidia had a decent driver for Linux.

ATi never made a driver for OS/2 and it wasn't until, what? 7-8 years ago the first rudimentary drivers appeared for Linux yet with a rather severe lack in Model support and posts abounded regarding installation difficulty, understandable since they were so new to ANYTHING but Dos/Windows . Apparently Linus and I don't exactly agree but I am heartily thankful that nVidia chose to support alternate OpSyses so well and so long ago and still supports some really old chips.

I support companies that support what I do, my needs, and nVidia has done that handsomely for ~20 years. I have bought nothing but nVidia since that first one, even during times when it was widely reported that ATi offered a "bigger bang for the buck". I have never regretted that decision.

If you're fond of ATi cards, that's OK by me but it might be worthy of consideration to give your support to someone who has been there more than twice as long for alternate Operating Systems like Linux.

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Amen to that. Nvidia gets a lot of crap for having proprietary drivers, but by fair comparison, they support their products extremely well. FreeBSD, Solaris, Linux, Windows, etc. NVidia has supported their products. They might not be the bleeding edge and fastest hardware manufacturer, but even good level products with exceptional support can shine brightly.

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While it existed, nVidia even supported BeOS. Re: Linux, nearly 20 years of support has resulted in generally excellent drivers, often superior to their Windows drivers, and extensive documentation. That kind of longterm commitment and quality requires cash, which thankfully is limited to the hardware. Not so greedy when you consider it.

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When i read that i think of AMD, i don't think it applies to nvidia.

If you got a newer GCN card then there is now an AMDgpu-pro beta.
http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-arti...ase-Notes.aspx
It's for ubuntu 14.04.4 but maybe there will be an more generic driver soon.

I'm currently using 352.63 which is not the latest so newer ones likely even have more but just within the downloadable driver the README alone is an over 500MB text file. In my book that's a lot of documentation for one driver. Additionally there is over 0.5MB of html and considering the only graphics are a few .png files that's not a trivial addition. All this comes with each driver and doesn't even take into account all on the website. Perhaps more importantly the data is efficiently organized and specific.

Since I haven't owned an ATi card since ISA days I can't compare but I am quite happy with nVidia's docs.

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Oh now i get your point.
Nvidias driver has good documentation but AMD has documented hardware.

ping Nille kungen - I really am not involved in any sort of "my Dad can beat up your dad" confrontations and I'm glad we all have options. AMD/Ati started out with fewer models supported and driver installation difficulty but so did nVidia. It's just that nVidia, having a policy of supporting alternative operating systems for decades, had a head start. Of course we have to factor in that AMD bought out ATi and possibly had more to gain by joining in with nVidia in Linux support since from their beginning AMD bumped heads with Wintel, while ATi was satisfied with the more fertile ground of Wintel. In any case AMD/ATi is onboard now and I truly wish them and anyone else, including Intel all the success they can manage and deserve.

My only point in posting accolades for nVidia in an AMD/ATi oriented thread was to point out options. I have no problem with ardent fans of ATi pointing out advantages in an nVidia thread. Options and competition are good for consumers and not settling for onboard graphics is good for both consumers and any company with viable options. Frankly I wish Matrox was still a major contender but they seem to have settled into a tight niche market. I once had a secondary box for OS/2 and bought a Matrox card because it supported that OpSys and I had read it's 2D performance was very good and since I did no gaming or CAD work in OS/2 it seemed appropriate. I have no qualms relating that when the desktop first popped into existence it literally took my breath away for a moment to see how much clearer everything but especially fonts were. I like nVidia a lot but no nVidia card ever conked me on the chin like that Matrox did.

I have no stake in nVidia and in fact for a period of 3 years (when Super7 came out) I owned a few thousand dollars worth of AMD stock and made a rather handsome profit while helping the company. So you see I really have no agenda other than to point out that if a person owns an ATi card that is problematic in Linux, nVidia does offer some good options and is worth considering in addition to ATi products.

Well put, enorbet! I don't wish this thread to become a contest whereby everyone feels the need to justify their hardware however they feel appropriate. My intention in making this thread was to point out that while AMD has some excellent hardware, it's not healthy to not consider other options when it becomes appropriate to do so. Nvidia is an appropriate choice for me, and when AMD offers a compelling option in the future, and I have funds, then it will be considered again.


Regards,

Matt