Graphics chip maker NVIDIA has responded to recent criticisms by Linux creator Linus Trovalds over its support for the Linux kernel, which is used in the Linux and Android operating systems.
Last week, Trovalds attacked NVIDIA’s support for the computer and mobile device platforms at a forum hosted by the Aalto Centre for Entrepreneurship in Finland, where he said: “NVIDIA has been the single worst company we’ve ever dealt with! So NVIDIA, f…k you!”
NVIDIA engineer Stephen Warren has responded to Trovalds’ comments via a Linux Foundation mailing list by offering to attend the Linux Foundation’s 2012 Kernel Summit, and asking the Linux community for ways the company could improve its support for the platform.
In the post, Warren directly responded to Trovalds comments, writing: “I imagine that I should show up in person [at the Kernel Summit] to accept the [worst company we’ve ever dealt with] award that Linus gave us a few days back.”
Warren also asked whether the company contributing code to the Linux kernel would “help our image even if we didn’t open up our hardware?”
Unlike competitors such as Intel, NVIDIA at present neither offers open documentation of its graphics chips, nor offers open source drivers that can be used by Linux or Android vendors.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
