VIA's Linux Strategy Takes A Turn With Hidden Driver

"Yesterday we reported on VIA's Linux dreams not materializing with their GEM/TTM memory management support still missing even though we are half-way into 2010 -- more than two years after VIA announced its most recent open-source initiative. It turns out, however, for what VIA views as its memory management work is actually done. VIA has inconspicuously handed over some of its code to the OpenChrome developers in order to create a new driver that has been dubbed the "openvia" driver. VIA has supposedly provided the source-code to an X driver plus TTM/GEM DRM, but this new project largely remains a hidden mystery.

"VIA's Bruce Chang, who has been their face for this most recent open-source strategy, was contacted yesterday by Phoronix and he replied with an update regarding this work. According to Bruce, VIA has handed over source-code to an X driver that has GEM/TTM support to the OpenChrome developers with they along with VIA's "friends" have been migrating their code-base to this VIA code-base in order to create a unified driver."

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