# NVIDIA Releases Open-Source GPU Kernel Modules **URL:** \ **Category:** Technical Blog\ **Tags:** linux\ **Created:** [May 11, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128 "2022-05-11T19:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jwitsoe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/jwitsoe/32/16591_2.png) [@jwitsoe](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/jwitsoe)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/1 "2022-05-11T19:49:20Z")
Originally published at: [https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/](https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/) The first open-source release of GPU kernel modules for the Linux community help improve NVIDIA GPU driver quality and security. ---
**Author:** ![anon8226138](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@anon8226138](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/anon8226138)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/2 "2022-05-11T20:38:16Z")
Well, I hope Nvidia will write me a check to replace the monitor I just spat out my coffee on! ---
**Author:** ![Nodgear](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/nodgear/32/165884_2.png) [@Nodgear](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/Nodgear)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/3 "2022-05-11T21:02:10Z")
History being made? sign me in. ---
**Author:** ![alex\_c007](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@alex\_c007](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/alex_c007)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/4 "2022-05-12T01:55:47Z")
Good news! I can’t count the number of hours spent trying to get nvidia driver working on ubuntu 16 and 18 laptop, without succes. Now we just need Microsoft to follow so that we can have DirectX on Linux as well. ---
**Author:** ![josef.andersson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/josef.andersson/32/165963_2.png) [@josef.andersson](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/josef.andersson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 7:30am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/5 "2022-05-12T07:30:05Z")
I created an account just so I could give praise to this initiative. Finally! Great NVIDIA. both your brand and us end users will benefit greatly from this in the long term. ---
**Author:** ![devhci](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/devhci/32/186830_2.png) [@devhci](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/devhci)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 8:39am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/6 "2022-05-12T08:39:16Z")
Hello, me the old librist, am very happy: Nvidia does what it says and says what it does, we will not be able to fix this world and make it evolve if open source is not part of it. . On the other hand, why not offer anything to Debian? This is a source distribution, plastic and runs both workstations and servers. Canonical is nice, but so fresh it’s unusable ---
**Author:** ![gytisrepecka](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/gytisrepecka/32/147666_2.png) [@gytisrepecka](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/gytisrepecka)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 12:13pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/7 "2022-05-12T12:13:32Z")
These are wonderful news! I hope this is a great start for a long open source journey ahead 👍 ---
**Author:** ![sakaia](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@sakaia](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/sakaia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/8 "2022-05-12T13:16:11Z")
Happy to hear this. Is there any feature comparison list between the binary and the OSS? ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/9 "2022-05-12T21:52:52Z")
Hi sakaia! Please take a look at our supported features section to see if this helps answer your question: [http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86\_64/515.43.04/README/kernel\_open.html](http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/515.43.04/README/kernel_open.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dasein420](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/dasein420/32/33263_2.png) [@Dasein420](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/Dasein420)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/11 "2022-05-12T22:12:05Z")
It’s a shame that the Pascal GTX10 series won’t be a part of this, would’ve helped in a lot of things :( ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/12 "2022-05-12T22:18:41Z")
Thanks Dasein420 for your feedback! Yes, we’re hearing Pascal support a lot following our announcement and are taking it very seriously. As this is our initial release, we’re gathering all feedback to help determine possible future engineering projects. Appreciate it! ---
**Author:** ![sakaia](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@sakaia](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/sakaia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/13 "2022-05-12T23:30:05Z")
Thank you for your reply. It is very helpful. The concept of this open source driver is clearified. ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/14 "2022-05-13T00:31:58Z")
Sorry ridge, we can’t replace your monitor. But we do appreciate your sentiment, and the visual! ;-) ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/15 "2022-05-13T06:21:31Z")
Hi devhci, we understand your request. Take heart in knowing that the driver code does run on Debian. But, you’re probably asking more about the repackaging? [See updated response below.] ---
**Author:** ![devhci](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/devhci/32/186830_2.png) [@devhci](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/devhci)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 6:27am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/16 "2022-05-13T06:27:02Z")
Hello, thank you for this answer. Debian, I think should not move before, I hope the next minor update, at worst version 12, you make stability, but I prefer this stability a thousand times, knowing that my GPUs are underused, that drivers distributed in a hurry, unstable in Ubuntu fashion ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/17 "2022-05-13T18:26:31Z")
Hi devhci, thanks to @kmittman, I have more information! We **do provide** official distro packages for Debian (the distro) and others, please see: [Installation Guide Linux :: CUDA Toolkit Documentation](https://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-installation-guide-linux/#open-gpu-kernel-modules) 1. NVIDIA driver runfile / CUDA runfile 2. Debian 11 3. Fedora 35 4. RHEL 8 / Rocky 8 5. RHEL 7 / CentOS 7 6. OpenSUSE 15 and SLES 15 7. Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 22.04 Hope this helps! :) ---
**Author:** ![Grizz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/grizz/32/166288_2.png) [@Grizz](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/Grizz)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/18 "2022-05-14T04:05:31Z")
Fantastic news, I can’t wait to see this implemented into Arch. ---
**Author:** ![logyourself](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/logyourself/32/38732_2.png) [@logyourself](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/logyourself)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/19 "2022-05-15T13:56:13Z")
Nvidia, you have a plan! Cool! ---
**Author:** ![foh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/foh/32/91537_2.png) [@foh](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/foh)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/20 "2022-05-16T19:24:10Z")
Hello Dasein420, I checked with engineering for further clarification on your request. Open kernel modules support all Ampere and Turing GPUs because the new modular driver architecture depends on GSP hardware introduced in the Turing family. However, for volta and older GPU architectures, GSP hardware is not available and hence they cannot leverage the open GPU kernel modules. Apologies for giving you any false hopes. :( ---
**Author:** ![JensM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/jensm/32/12532_2.png) [@JensM](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/JensM)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128/21 "2022-05-19T22:48:05Z")
Will this release make it possible to legally apply the RT patches on Nvidia systems? [Next page](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-releases-open-source-gpu-kernel-modules/214128.md?page=2)