NVIDIA Announces Plan to Fully Transition to Open Source GPU Kernel Modules
NVIDIA has announced that it will transition all GPU-related kernel modules to open source. Cutting-edge modules such as NVIDIA Grace Hopper and NVIDIA Blackwell will be supported only as open source kernel modules.
NVIDIA Transitions Fully Towards Open-Source GPU Kernel Modules | NVIDIA Technical Blog
NVIDIA Promotes Their Open-Source GPU Kernel Driver Support - Phoronix
Previously, NVIDIA had been reluctant to open source GPU-related software, but in 2022 it released a set of GPU kernel modules for Linux as open source under a dual GPL and MIT license.
NVIDIA open-sources GPU kernel module for Linux, already available for download - GIGAZINE
By Jonathan Cutrer
According to NVIDIA, the initial release was 'targeted at data center compute GPUs, with GeForce GPUs and workstation GPUs in alpha state,' which did not immediately address the dissatisfaction of general Linux users. However, NVIDIA later began supporting GeForce and workstations as well, expanding the open source community.
On July 17, 2024, the company announced that 'open source kernel modules will eventually replace closed source drivers,' making clear that it would transition entirely to open source.
NVIDIA said, 'NVIDIA GPUs share a common driver architecture and feature set, and it is very important to us that this driver works correctly. We have finally achieved better application performance than ever before with the open source GPU kernel module and added significant new features. We are now at the right stage to fully transition to the open source GPU kernel module, and we will make that change in an upcoming R560 driver release.'
Please note that not all GPUs are compatible with open source kernel modules, and older architectures such as Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta are not compatible at all. On the other hand, NVIDIA Grace Hopper and NVIDIA Blackwell only support open source kernel modules and do not support proprietary drivers.
Instructions on how to install the app are listed on the official blog .
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