Red Hat, Inc. publisher of the Red Hat Linux Operating System, today announced that Neomagic, Inc. has authorized the release to XFree86 of the Red Hat funded Linux drivers for NeoMagic's family of laptop graphics chips. The release of driver source code is a major focus of Red Hat's XBF driver program.
Previously, NeoMagic binary-only drivers, developed by Precision Insight Inc., were released by Red Hat as part of their XBF program, but source code had been withheld pending authorization by NeoMagic. With this authorization, full source code for these fully accelerated, commercial quality drivers is available and will be included in the next release of the industry standard XFree86 X Server.
"The Open Source community has made it clear to us that they want notebook PCs with levels of performance and engineering sophistication which have typically only been available in desktop platforms. We have worked with Precision Insight Inc. for several months in completing the release of driver source code for NeoMagic's MagicGraph128 family of integrated single-chip graphics solutions," said Saifee Fahkruddin, NeoMagic's Director of Software Development.
This new development with Neomagic attests to the power of the Open Source Community as mobilized through Red Hat's XBF program. The XBF program was designed to encourage hardware vendors to cooperate with the Open Source community by proving to them that Linux driver support for their products is good for their business.
Said Bob Young, president and CEO of Red Hat, Inc. "The XBF approach was a radical step away from the confrontational diplomacy used in the past by too many proponents of Open Source, and it proves that if a business case can be made to a hardware vendor to show that Open Source will work best for its business, then those vendors will work with us to maintain the phenomenal growth of the Open Source movement."
Frank LaMonica, President and CEO of Precision Insight, Inc. agreed. "It's a great time for Open Source software, and Precision Insight is thrilled to be part of the solution," says LaMonica. "The dynamic Open Source environment is contagious. It simply makes good business sense for hardware vendors to reap the benefits which "many eyes" brings to the quality and stability of driver support for their products."
Red Hat has ushered in a new level of driver support for graphics devices, augmenting the outstanding contributions already being made by XFree86 developers. Free software and commercial quality are now synonymous as Linux users can receive the highest quality software, full industrial strength product support, and uncompromising performance, all with freedom from dependence on any single vendor.
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world's leading open source and Linux provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. The most trusted name in open source, CIOs and other senior-level IT executives have ranked Red Hat as the industry's most valued vendor for two consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making high quality, low cost technology accessible. Red Hat provides operating system software along with middleware, applications and management solutions. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Red Hat's open source strategy offers customers a long term plan for building infrastructures that are based on and leverage open source technologies with focus on security and ease of management. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com
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- About Red Hat
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
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