[Openchrome-users] VIA Announces Open Source Driver Initiative

[pcpa@mandriva.com.br]

Quoting Xavier Bachelot <xavier at bachelot.org>:

>>   I worked recently with a OEM for a "olpc like" computer that has VX800
>> chipset, and only after almost 2 month telling that it was not working,
>> we managed to have someone from VIA in the "mail loop".
>>   Then more one month with their binary only driver, trying all options
>> from the the latest sources available at www.viaarena.com with
>> no success. I even did some experiments dumping and hacking the vga
>> video bios...
>>   The final solution was an xorg.conf option added to their latest binary
>> only driver, and they telling us to not look at the sources from viaarena
>> because it is outdated :-)
>>
> You had a painful experience of working with VIA under a commercial 
> contract. Now thing about doing the same when you do not have a 
> contract with them...

  I had a similar problem with SiS, but SiS was interested in getting
their hardware (SiS 671) used instead of VIA in some OEMs, so I even
managed to convince them to send me the sources so I could help debugging
some problems...

> We are trying to write a proposal to VIA to help smoothen the 
> relationship with the community. Would you like to participate and 
> send us your ideas ?

  Surely. Well, my first idea is that openchrome is the best option for
them. But who knows, maybe for Xorg they can get someone with commit
access and fix or replace the via driver in there (I think an old version
of unichrome).
  It is definetely lacking also in kernel modules support.

  A bit off topic, I was told that VIA and SiS lost theirs contacts with
open source developers/commiters because workers don't stay for too long
there, and they did not know anymore where to send sources/documentation.

> Regards,
> Xavier

Paulo