BaseMosaic v295 vs v310 vs v325: Only up to three screens?

Graphics / Linux Linux
21

Hello,

I agree that Nvidia should explain more precisely the reason why the feature was removed from Linux driver. Only saying “for parity with Windows” isn’t enough as there are many possible assumptions:

- Quality Assurance : feature to support 4+ screens not fully and really tested on Linux, waiting for more benchmarks and returns

- There have been problems and bug reports for this option in Linux so it is deactivated for the moment until correction.

- It is easier to maintain the code if most of it is identical both in Linux and Windows. But that’s not logical : if it was the case, this feature wouldn’t have been all implemented in Linux first.

- There is a commercial agreement between Nvidia and Microsoft, ensuring that the performances and features of drivers can not be better than those in Windows in any other Operating System.

Such agreement could exist (we already saw worse with MS), but Nvidia would never admit it, and again if it was, why having put this feature in BaseMosaic v295 ?

Is this situation provisional (and will be reintroduced soon on a next version of Linux driver) or definitive ?

So that’s why Nvidia should tell us with more details the justification of remove and not only “This is expected behavior for latest drivers. For feature parity between Windows and Linux we set BaseMosaic to 3 screens on GeForce.”

For the moment, I tried to ask Nvidia on Twitter - https://twitter.com/valeryan24/status/386627085919207424 and https://twitter.com/valeryan24/status/387204503411232768 - on the French Nvidia Facebook official page : no answer. There is also a discussion here - Nvidia Removed Linux Driver Feature For Feature Parity With Windows - Slashdot - and for french readers interested : Hypocrisie de Nvidia envers le libre : le pilote graphique Linux volontairement dégradé ? - LinuxFr.org

Thanks !

22

There is answer from technical support:

And the next message with additional comments I asked for:

Ticket id 131004-000223.

23

Thanks for all the support and clarification.

@RussianNeuroMancer: Do you have a link to the support ticket? I can’t seem to find it.

So from what I understand, they removed the 4 monitor basemosaic option, either because of problems with running 4 monitors in that configuration under Linux, or because they want people with 4+ monitors to buy a (more expensive) graphics card?

Either way, like heathhunnicutt already said, they shouldn’t be taking away features that people already paid for to use.

24

For feature parity, it would be very nice if support for Optimus was added to Linux.

25

Feature parity? Does that mean that the Linux driver is going to be made 1:1 feature equal with the Windows driver, or features not in the Linux version are going to be removed from the Windows release in kind?

Feature parity can only be achieved by equalizing the two driver instances. By cutting away features not available on Windows, but implemented on Linux without either filling in the missing features in the Linux driver or cutting away everything from the Windows flavour that is not in the Linux version, feature parity can never be achieved.

nvidia must know that, which strongly suggests that “feature parity” is not the reason, and the statement that mentions it as the reason is false and does not describe the true reasons for the cut.

26

Apparently Nvidia is a slave of Microsoft, who only needs to demand that a feature is removed from linux drivers and Nvidia does it; not only that, they do it in secret without informing anyone - and when later questions are asked, you get no answer. I bet sandipt was almost fired after leaking that one line above.

Shame on Nvidia :(