Do all graphics drivers require Linuxulator or just NVIDIA?

ucsdboy

ucsdboy

Hi guys,

Off the top of anyone's head - if I replace my old NVIDIA card with an AMD one or buy a new CPU w/integrated intel graphics - do I still need to install linuxulator and a linux-based driver?

Thanks!
 
Not a single GPU driver requires Linuxulator.

The opensource "drm" drivers for ATI/AMD/intel taken from Linux (and currently provided by graphics/drm-kmod) require LinuxKPI, which is an entirely different thing (a compatibility layer inside the kernel) and always present anyways.
 
ucsdboy said:
Thank you for the replies! - does the Nvidia driver require the LinuxKPI as well?
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AFAIK, no, Nvidia supports FreeBSD natively. But it doesn't matter as LinuxKPI is a fixed part of FreeBSD's kernel anyways, you don't need to install anything to use it.

There might be some confusion because there is for example x11/linux-nvidia-libs. But that's just the userspace part of Nvidia drivers (used by the X window system). You only need it for OpenGL/GLX Linux applications running on FreeBSD.
 
yuripv79 said:
No, NVIDIA provides native closed-source driver.
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You were a bit faster ... less thorough, BUT mentioned this little thing I took the liberty to hilite ^^

It's probably good to know this. In the GNU/Linux world, this lead to weird behavior. It almost seemed like Linux devs changed in-kernel ABIs just to break Nvidia's code. And it makes sense, in the "GNU universe", everything closed-source is inherently bad and publishers must get a "lesson" :rolleyes:

I love how FreeBSD is much more relaxed. I still think closed-source drivers here are a missed opportunity, after all, more eyeballs, more opportunities to fix things, and Nvidia is selling hardware, not software. But in the end, it's still their choice....
 
Guys gave the necessary explanations but in nutshell: Intel and AMD drivers are open source and Nvidia driver is proprietary. Nvidia releases official driver for FreeBSD, but Intel and AMD using Linux drivers that are run by a compatibility layer called LinuxKPI. I think you're confusing LinuxKPI and Linuxulator. LinuxKPI is used to run Linux kernel drivers and Linuxulator to run Linux apps (on the top of kernel).
 
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If of any concerns: I run multiple desktops with different Nvidia GPUs (GTX 1080, Quadro K2000, Quadro M4000, Quadro P5000, ...) using the official Nvidia (closed source) drivers. All of them worked flawlessly out-of-the-box and continued to do so for many, many years. The situation has not changed so far.

Huge shout-out to Nvidia for providing official FreeBSD support. This is awesome. I wish we'd get that from more hardware manufacturers/vendors.
 
jbo said:
Huge shout-out to Nvidia for providing official FreeBSD support. This is awesome. I wish we'd get that from more hardware manufacturers/vendors.
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Yep! Although I still think closed-source isn't the wisest choice here, it's their choice and what matters most is: there is support!
 
cracauer@ said:
memble lack of CUDA mumble
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I get what you mean - I really do. CUDA support would be greatly appreciated but let's not forget to enjoy and to be "grateful" for what we get. They could just not do it at all.
Demanding more is easy. Appreciating what one has less so ;)
 
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