2.6.4 vanilla kernel and ATI drivers for 9700 Pro don't work

[Steve Bergman]

Dave Jones wrote:

> Bringing up the fact that part binary only drivers for 2.4 don't
> work on 2.6 kernels here isn't going to change anything.
> 

This is not a problem that is going to go away.  Perhaps as Linux 
becomes more popular, the chip manufacturers will implement a thin, 
proprietary, GLIDE-like layer in between the hardware and the high level 
video driver.  Would this be a workable comromise between the 
manufacturer's desire to keep their hardware internals secret (which in 
the area of 3D chip design is actually pretty understandable) and our 
need to have the code available?  Of course, in the case of a new 
kernel, the ball would still be in ATI/NVidia's court, but at least it 
would only be the lowest level internals being kept secret, instead of 
the whole thing being a black box.  Wouldn't this actually make 
maitenance easier for the manufacturer as well as for distro developers 
andmaintainers?  It is my understanding that GLIDE was so thin and 
efficient that it made essentially no measurable difference to performance.

-Steve