[Attn: Prof.Knopper] Incompatibility of NVidia graphics cards with Knoppix
Till date, with 7.2.0, using my laptop's Nvidia card was like an invigorating cool breeze. I copied the KNOPPIX and boot directories of the image (mounting the iso in a directory and copying them), booted into the knoppix with cheat code, created a Persistent File, then booted upto init 3, finally installed the nvidia original drivers from their site, and the laptop worked like a dream. It is fast and flexible.
Graphics card: NVIDIA Corporation C79 [GeForce 9200M G]
NVidia Driver: NVIDIA-Linux-x86-340.65.run
When I tried to change over to Knoppix 7.4.2 the aforesaid driver wouldn't install. There was a compatibility issue with the new knoppix. Since Knoppix is a wonderful hodgepodge of multiple Debian versions, even a newer driver like NVIDIA-Linux-x86-346.47.run from NVidia wouldn't work.
Why is the FSF so obsessed with developing NVidia drivers from scratch? They should realise that this project is never going to end, as NVidia would be bringing newer cards into the market. And why is Knoppix following the community's efforts so blindly? Why can't Knoppix let us the choice of using drivers which gives us the best results, while reverse engineering the proprietary drivers of NVidia at leisure? Then we could have the best of both worlds, even when our computers last much longer than intended?!
Please, Prof. Knopper, Knoppix is beautiful, it has flaws, but it is beautiful to me, ease of installing 3rd-party proprietary drivers being one of my reasons! Please let it remain beautiful.
