nvidia has always been hostile to open source, as far back as i can remember.
back when nvidia bought 3dfx they took down the source code for the open 3dfx drivers within days, if not on the same day.
i remember because i had just gotten myself a sweet voodoo 5 some weeks before that, and the great linux support was the reason i chose it...
of course the driver code survived elsewhere, but it told me all i needed to know about that company.
also: linus' rant wasn't just a fun stunt, it was necessary to get nvidia to properly cooperate with the open source community if they want to keep making money running linux on their hardware.
nvidia has always been hostile to open source, as far back as i can remember.
back when nvidia bought 3dfx they took down the source code for the open 3dfx drivers within days, if not on the same day. i remember because i had just gotten myself a sweet voodoo 5 some weeks before that, and the great linux support was the reason i chose it... of course the driver code survived elsewhere, but it told me all i needed to know about that company.
also: linus' rant wasn't just a fun stunt, it was necessary to get nvidia to properly cooperate with the open source community if they want to keep making money running linux on their hardware.