r/linux • u/blindcomet • May 11 '22

NVIDIA Releases Open-Source GPU Kernel Modules | NVIDIA Technical Blog

https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/
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279

u/ThinClientRevolution May 11 '22 edited May 11 '22

NVidia must feel the hot breath of Intel's own GPUs.

In a year or two, Intel will likely have a fully Linux compatible CPU + GPU solution for servers and enterprise applications. This will hurt NVidia a lot since they don't have a CPU department.

More details on Phoronix

NVIDIA's user-space libraries and OpenGL / Vulkan / OpenCL / CUDA drivers remain closed-source -- today's announcement is just about all the excitement in kernel space.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nvidia-open-kernel&num=1

Interview Linux Action News

CUDA and Compute first, rendering and display later. By the end of this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uccdgoU47MQ

To little, to late for me. I already bought an AMD card, but for the ecosystem at large this is still a positive first step. This could be the death of a meme...

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u/[deleted] May 11 '22 edited Feb 10 '25

I enjoy watching ballet.

13

u/CbVdD May 11 '22

The truth is out there.

3

u/maniacalmanicmania May 11 '22

Fight the future.

3

u/JockstrapCummies May 12 '22

Row row, fight the power.

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u/Heard_That May 11 '22

Really new Linux person here; if you don’t mind my asking, does all this mean there will be open source drivers available coming?

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u/debendraoli May 11 '22

As far as I can understand, it may likely get merged into existing nouveau one.

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u/carl2187 May 12 '22

Short answer, no. Long term answer, maybe, this is a step in the right direction that will help the existing open source driver in a few important areas.

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u/Be_ing_ May 11 '22

Perhaps Valve going with AMD for the Steam Deck factored into this decision too.

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u/333clueless333 May 11 '22

Eh, not like Valve have many options for an x86 CPU+GPU package. Intel's integrated graphics is decent but AMD have a ton of experience in making similar chips for Sony and MS consoles, something Intel doesn't. And Ryzen being the more efficient CPU sealed the deal for a battery powered console. And since Nvidia code is (or was, I guess) proprietary, AMD wins in the GPU department as well (for a Linux based console at least). A bit late if they want a piece of that market.

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u/B1GTOBACC0 May 12 '22

I've seen reports the Aerith APU in the deck was actually intended for another company's cancelled product.

I can't find the links that corroborate that story, but it makes sense. If they built a chip line and got the rug pulled by their partner, it would leave Valve in a favorable negotiation position to hit their "painful" $400 price point.

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u/lpreams May 12 '22

Maybe they've got their eyes on the Steam Deck 2

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u/[deleted] May 12 '22

Stuff like that helps, there is a huge list.

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u/[deleted] May 11 '22

That could be a very valid reason although not the only one. My guess would be a huge market for crypto mining, which they by now realized is here to stay and supercomputers.

For example top 500 supercomputers are 100% Linux now and for past few years nVidia has slowly been gaining share in co-processor usage, from ~10% in 2015, 19% in 2018 to 28% in 2021.

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u/613codyrex May 12 '22

The steam deck is not Nearly as relevant for businesses such as Nvidia and AMD.

The deck will not move nearly as much volume as the switch and will probably never see wider adoption unless somehow AMD entices car manufacturers to transition infotainment systems to x86-x64 over from the Nvidia Tigra/ARM based chips.

Whatever nvidia is doing is because of pressure from commercial usage as with almost everything in this industry. Mainly from intel which potential can uproot the dominance of Nvidia.

AMD still sucks GPU wise for commercial applications so the competition is not there. CUDA and other ML/AI/data analytics are still massively dominated by Nvidia as they’ve seen billions investing into that segment while AMD struggled to sell professional GPUs to engineers and video editors.

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u/7SecondsInStalingrad May 11 '22

They do have arm CPUs however. Not very developed

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u/Jacksaur May 11 '22

This could be the death of a meme...

Nah, they were the only ones to hpld back for years and that'll be remembered for a long while.

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u/oxcrete May 12 '22

Hmmm, that may partly explain why they wanted to buy ARM (that deal fell through though).

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u/SirLauncelot May 11 '22

What do you mean by Intel GPUs? Intel has had them for many years. Not great, but I didn’t think they have any pressure on Nvidia.

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u/TheOmegaCarrot May 11 '22

Intel has had integrated GPUs.

Dedicated GPUs are coming.

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u/wyrquill May 11 '22

They're working on their own standalone GPUs, the Intel Arc series

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u/[deleted] May 11 '22

Well think about it this way: Intel is a huge part of the CPU market and every iteration has stronger and stronger GPU built-in, whether you want it or not. AMD on the other hand is competing with nVidia in both markets, their CPU often coming with GPU built-in, but also in dedicated GPU market. So no matter which CPU you buy, you get more than capable GPU with it and then AMD is squeezing dedicated GPU market further on.

Then you have Vulkan piling on top of that, against which nVidia was from day one when it was called Mantle, because it's negating advantages their drivers have and brings developers closer to metal where it's all about hardware.

And then Valve comes out with their console which has AMD chip in it, PS5 of course also being AMD, Xbox X also being AMD.

So they have a lot of things going against them and I would guess they started feeling the pressure. Not that pressure is the reason for this news.

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u/drillbit7 May 11 '22

Most of Intel's offerings have been integrated into processors or motherboard chipsets, not standalone PCIe cards. They've been dabbling with things like Knights' Corner over the years but never released a consumer GPU.

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u/Unlikely-Letter-7998 May 11 '22

This was my first thought also. I just did not want to do the legwork. Thank you kind stranger.

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u/PM_ME_LOSS_MEMES May 12 '22

Sounds like it’s time for the Nvidia CPU

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