On Monday 11 December 2006 12:19 am, Jim Cornette wrote: > Hadders wrote: > > Hi people, > > I'm just wondering why the Linux group prefers the livna kmod-nvidia > > driver for Linux over nVidias downloadable driver? > > > > Is it because linva offers kernel specific versions? with smp? > > > > Just curious, not trying to start a war here ;-) > > > > Hadders > > What was stated (or something close to the words) by some that work with > the X server is that NVidia installer version will overwrite files from > the Mesa package or put it in a location which is not the norm. The > Livna version of the drivers are supposed to place the files in the > appropriate place and not overwrite mesa libraries and other packages > files. This is the main reason I use livna instead of the nvidia installer. I had a bad experience trying to remove the nvidia driver to go back to the nv one, due to the fact the nvidia installer over-writes files. With the livna rpms, it is trivial to remove. The other reason I prefer it is once I've added livna to my repo list, and installed there driver I can forget about it, getting new drivers automatically. Yes, there is a delay after nvidia releases new drivers, but it usually not more than a few days. I can wait that long. ( If you are desperate its not actually that hard download the livna srpm and build your own, using the nvidia tarball anyway.) I also use the yum kmod plugin, which means I won't if a new kernel is released I won't get it until all the kmod-XXX packages I have installed are also available. very useful. cheers Chris
