[$] AMD's Display Core difficulties
Back in 2007, the announcement that AMD
intended to reverse its longstanding position and create an upstream driver
for its graphics processors was joyfully received by Linux users
worldwide. As 2017 approaches, an attempt by AMD to merge a driver for an
upcoming graphics chip has been rejected by the kernel's graphics subsystem
maintainer — a decision that engendered rather less joy. A look at this
discussion reveals a pattern seen many times before; the
positions and decisions taken can seem arbitrary to the wider world but they
are not without their reasons and will, hopefully, lead to a better kernel
in the long run.