[MPlayer-users] Re: recomended components for mplayer

[Dean S. Messing]

 :: On Thu, Jan 02, 2003 at 06:18:02PM -0500, D Richard Felker III wrote:
 ::  > yes, i'd love if nvidia would release the driver sources
 :: > > yes, i know i can buy an ati or a matrox card.
 :: > > yes, for watching movies i'd buy a matrox card.
 :: > > no, i won't buy an ati or a matrox card, because sometimes i want to
 :: > > play some 3d games, and there aren't any open-source drivers with fast
 :: > > 3d performance for fast 3d cards ( by fast cards i mean geforce3+,
 :: > > ati8500+, matrox parhelia+ )... 
 :: > 
 :: > Arrg, wtf is the point, are you playing the stupid games on linux
 :: > anyway?? If you're dual booting you'd be much better off to use the
 :: > sorry nvidia box for doze and get a nice cheap k6 or duron with a g200
 :: > or g400 for linux.
 :: 
 :: something more:
 :: 
 :: if you want to have a fast 3d card under linux you need a nvidia card.
 :: 
 :: 
 :: not because there aren't other fast 3d cards, but because they drivers
 :: suck. ( ati ).
 :: 
 :: so face it: the only company that cares for linux 3d users, is nvidia.
 :: and i'm not joking.
 :: 
 :: simply i want to say that nvidia drivers has MANY problems, but in some
 :: areas they drivers are a lot better than the drivers for the other 3d
 :: cards 
 :: 
 :: gabor

Here's a couple of more thoughts about Nvidia vis-a-vis their "friendliness
to free software".

Eight months ago I needed to buy a card (for linux) that would do
hi-res Digital Output to various experimental LCD flat panels with
which I work.  I asked about this over on the Xfree Xperts group and
came to learn that the (then) new Nvidia Geforce-4 Ti4600 was the best
choice, having capability for dual-channel DVI-I output.

I asked for help on that list for getting things configured and lo and
behold, I started getting helped by one Mark V. (don't remember his
last name) who turns out to be the Nvidia guy who writes the closed
source drivers for the card.  He is _also_ one of the XFree
heavyweights on that list and from what I can tell, would just as soon
open the code.

But he's prohibited from doing so by Nvidia Corp (which is too bad).

Nonetheless he added features to the drivers (both Open and Closed) as
requests come across the list and was very responsive to bug reports.
Having read the Xperts list for a long time I found Mark to be one of
the most helpful guys there.  When I was having trouble getting
TwinView (Nvidia's xinerama-like mode) working, Mark gave me
invaluable help, as he has on other occasions.

I have only this datum about nvidia but my experience has been all
good.

Suggestion: have any of the heavyweights on this list bothered to
approach Mark on the Xfree list about help with regard to getting
MPlayer to better work with the closed source Nvidia drivers?

What I know is that this rabid hatred of Nvidia is simply
counter-productive.  Unlike M$ (where such hatred is probably
well-placed :-) they don't seem to me to be out to destroy free
software.  They have simply chosen a business model which closes their
source, just like 90% of all commercial companies.  I don't like it,
but I also am not adversarial to them because they (Mark) has not
been adversarial to me.

I believe deeply in the opensource model (bazaar).  I love linux and
hate M$.  But I _must_ sometimes use closed source to get my job done.
(Supporting my family does come before my open source ideals :-)

Thus, I (currently) use an nvidia card, I currently use win4lin---a
closed source light weight virtual machine for running M$ Windows on
top of Linux, and I currently use (out of necessity) Powerpoint,
Word, and the various other Office tools around which the world
currently turns.

And I'm extremely thankful for people like Arpi, et al., who are
fighting the good fight with major tools like MPlayer/MEncoder.  I
wish I had the technical expertise in that area to help.

Dean,
who will close his big mouth now.


                                  Dean S. Messing
                                  Display Algorithms & Visual Optimization Lab
                                  Information Systems Technologies Dept.
                                  Sharp Laboratories of America