The creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, visited Aalto University in Helsingfors, Finland, and answered question from both the university and the audience. One questioned covered a notebook with NVIDIA graphics and the lack of support in Linux, which seemed to hit a sore spot with Linus Torvalds.
During an Q&A at the university he was asked about NVIDIA and Optimus. Optimus is the technology that automatically switches between Intel’s integrated graphics and NVIDIA’s discrete graphics card, which is an important power saving function in modern computers. The graphics card giant has apparently said it will not spend time developing support for Linux.
“I know exactly what you’re talking about, and I am very happy to say that it’s the exception rather than the rule. And I am also very happy to publicly point out that NVIDIA has been one of the worst trouble spots we’ve had with hardware manufacturers. And that is really sad because NVIDIA tries to sell chips, a lot of chips into the Android market and NVIDIA has been the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with. So NVIDIA – Fuck you!”
This was apparently something Linus Torvalds was well aware of, since he pointed out NVIDIA as “the single word company we have ever had to deal with” followed by the classic f-word and the finger. It was said with a humorous undertone though and he points out that there are companies that simply doesn’t care, since Linux has a too small user base.
To see the question and Linus Torvalds’ answer fast-forward to 48:10 into the video above.
Source: Phoronix
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