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NetBSD Package System (pkgsrc) Installation and upgrading of packages on NetBSD. |
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How to install FreeBSD driver on NetBSD?
Hi everyone,
I was trying to install an Nvidia driver written for FreeBSD on NetBSD and I got this error: Quote:
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To elaborate on cynwulf's point, the main *BSD projects (FreeBSD, NerBSD, & OpenBSD...) have had over fifteen years to diverge from each other, & while there are still similarities, drivers designed for one variant are not compatible with another.
Given that nVidia is not interested in releasing the specifics of either their hardware or the software they provide to access chip functionality, there is little interest in the NetBSD & OpenBSD camps to attempt reverse engineering. Besides, reverse engineering is very difficult & time-consuming. |
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The nouveau driver for Linux is a reverse engineering attempt. I remember reading about why that has never made it into any *BSD a few years back, but can't remember the specifics (FreeBSD probably because they have the blob - lets just hope nvidia don't suddenly decide that only Linux is 'relevant' and pull the plug - because well proprietary software vendors never do that...).
The old nv driver was an obfuscated mess of code and is now dead. So if you really care about running a free and open source system and about maintaining stability and security, then crap like the blob driver should be avoided. If on the other hand you're happy to insert closed binary blobs into your kernel, then just switch to FreeBSD. |
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NVidia Linux stub
In a way, you're running a Linux driver on FreeBSD with the NVidia Linux stub, right? But, that has to be implemented especially for each OS, and then each particular driver, and does not have the generic sense that the OP desires. I think, but I'm not the FreeBSD NVidia expert. Maybe someone else is? I'm curious about how it's all laid out.
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