Nvidia improves Linux support

By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia has released new drivers for its video cards used in computers running the Linux operating system, the company said Friday. The new drivers support the OpenGL graphics technology and Nvidia's extensions. They also offer better performance on graphics-intensive software such as "Quake" and improved support for mobile computers and those using CPUs from Advanced Micro Devices. In addition, the drivers add support for Nvidia's newer nForce 220D, 420 and 420D integrated graphics chips.

Linux is an open-source operating system, meaning that the underlying source code of the software may be redistributed and modified by anyone. But the Nvidia drivers are proprietary. The software's license prohibits reverse-engineering to try to figure out what the Nvidia source code is.

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