Torvalds curses Nvidia for absence of Optimus Linux support

Written by

Vlad Savov for The Verge:

Linus Torvalds isn’t someone you’d accuse of excessive diplomacy and his answer to a question about Nvidia’s lack of support for Linux with its Optimus technology has been far from compromising. When posed with that query during a Q&A session at Aalto University in Finland, Torvalds begins by identifying Nvidia as “the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with” and goes on to give his assessment of its actions with a resolute “fuck you” and an accompanying middle finger gesture to the camera.

Nvidia’s Optimus is power-saving technology designed to enable the computer to swap between the GPU and integrated graphics on the motherboard. At least part of Torvalds’ frustration may be that Nvidia is now a member of The Linux Foundation, ostensibly to better support its technology in Linux. Yet Optimus technology only works partially, thanks to reverse-engineered drivers developed by the community itself. Nvidia has been AWOL.

Nvidia rival AMD provides open source support for its own GPU-switching technology.

Such power-saving tech has been a cornerstone of Mac (and Windows) hardware and software for a while now. Torvalds’ frustration is understandable under the circumstances, but either way, it’s one less problem we OS X users have to deal with.



  • Chuck

    I thought the Linux guys where all about doing it themselves. Guess they’re finally getting tired of that.

    • Peter Cohen

      They’re happy to do it themselves as long as the hardware makers provide them with the documentation they need to get it done. The problem here is that Nvidia is giving the appearance of being willfully obstinate by not providing the details they need to properly get Optimus hardware working. The net result is an incomplete, reverse-engineered hack that only works with some apps.

      • http://www.theuniversalsteve.com SSteve

        “The net result is an incomplete, reverse-engineered hack that only works with some apps.”

        And how is that different than the usual Linux experience?

        Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I’m just pissed because I upgraded my Linux machine to Ubuntu 12.04 and it completely hosed my machine. I had to wipe the hard drive and go back to 11.04.

  • matthewmaurice

    “but either way, it’s one less problem we OS X users have to deal with”

    Two, if you count Linus himself.

    • Steven Fisher

      True, but we get more of Stallman’s attention. So it’s not a good trade.