Re: Free drivers for AMD Radeon (Vaio S)
On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:52:35 -0400, Dan wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:12 AM, Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com> wrote:
(...)
>>> Why would you stay away from Mac...
>>
>> More than from a Mac (which I find it very well designed machines) I
>> would stay away from Apple (the company). I've never seen a company
>> that try to limit their users the way they do and enforce their
>> senseless policies (what you can do or don't with their devices), in
>> that regard is even worst than MS :-/
>>
>>> and why did you mention compatibility? Everything should work with
>>> Debian because it is a PC.
>>
>> Uff, if you think so... I think it's still not so easy to run something
>> different than MacOS (or windows) in their computers :-)
>>
>>> They are just using the new EFI system, but what I understood is that
>>> EFI will be the standard in the near future.
>>
>> U/EFI is now a standard but still not widely used. But EFI is not what
>> it scares me of Apple :-)
>>
>>
>>
> Hi Camaleón,
>
> My concern was about being able to use the graphic card and the
> computer. I should be able to turn off the AMD card with vgaswitcheroo.
> And hopefully in a near future it should be possible to use the AMD card
> with FOSS drivers.
I think you could still make use of the ATI card by means of the closed
source driver, should you need to get more "VGA power" for your apps (I
mean, in the event "radeon" driver is still not supporting that chipset)
but the most important part, from my POV, is to be able to switch from
intel to amd VGA with no hassle. If that can be done with the laptop,
then you should not have any problem.
> I do agree with you that Apple is a closed minded company, and I do not
> like what their policies. But I also think that their computers
> (Macbooks pro) are quite nice (reliable and stylish).
Yes, in fact they have in their files one of the most valued designer
engineers, many times awarded for his creations so I fully agree they
make very good products despite the company guidelines and policies.
> You used U/EFI and EFI. Are both the same?
IIRC, EFI was the original Intel's name and then evolved to UEFI, by the
time more companies joined to the working group to enhance the first
specification. But yes, practically both refer to the same.
> Is there something special about the EFI from Macs? or it is completely
> EFI standard.
Dunno :-?
My guess (but take it as it is, just a "guess") is that Mac's EFI is
based on the standards and is fully compliant to them but when it comes
to the "software" part (firmware), the logic that controls it... well, I
would not put my hand on the fire for that assertion, remember that Apple
is a company that makes software _and_ hardware and they are interested
in make "their" products to play perfectly and are fully integrated with
"their" software :-)
> Why do you say that it is not so easy to run anything different than
> MacOS in their computers?
Because they prepare and certify their computers/devices to run with just
MacOS (or their mobile OS, iOS).
So what we finally have is a closed OS system like MacOS running over
supposedly standard irons. If you want to keep MacOS and add another OS
would be more difficult than if you only wanted to run Debian on it.
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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