Releasing source for graphics drivers has zero to do with this DirectX Shader Compiler going open source. This compiler just compiles from HLSL to DXIL. During run-time, the application submits DXIL to the IHV driver for compilation into machine bytecode. And that compiler is still closed-source, at least for most GPU use cases.
I don't understand what you thought you'd accomplish with your comment. It's almost a willful attempt at not understanding what the project/event is about.
3. Nvidia won't because their GPU does a lot of magic to fix DX9/DX10/DX11 screw ups some people shops who've partnered with Nvidia leave in their code.
That gets linked every now and then and it's pretty much BS, coming from someone who was an intern for a few months.
Yes, there are workarounds and tweaks in the driver but it there was no other way back when games were shipped on a CD and updates were necessarily not applied. But even today it's not an option for AMD/NVidia/Intel to ship a driver update that will knowingly break Doom/Quake or any other shipping title. If a released product relies on a driver bug, the driver bug must be there indefinitely unless the game/app developer ships an update (which they might not do, the game might be years old and no longer supported).
If you got a driver update that broke your game or hindered performance, you would be upset.
Case in point: GLSL compilers which accept invalid input. That just can't be fixed without breaking some existing use.
Then there are different strategies how the driver might implement Direct3D/OpenGL feature X. If 98% of the cases Strategy A is better but for a popular game Startegy B is better, the driver will selectively enable strategy that for a specific game. This is typically done in collaboration with the game developer and the GPU driver developers.
Some years ago, cheating in benchmarks was rather common (and unsurprising). Benchmark results have disproportionate impact on sales and cheating, however dishonest, was a way to make a lot of sales with relatively little effort. I am under the impression that these days there are legally binding contracts between the manufacturers and benchmark companies that disallow this dubious practice.
But in reality, most of the driver workarounds/hacks are artifacts of closed source development and binary releases and almost everyone benefits from them. The customer gets better performance, the game developer doesn't have to do as many workarounds (although it's beneficial for them to have a working relationship with the GPU vendors) and the GPU company gets sales because your favorite game runs better.
I understand that this is giving some grief to indie developers and open source hackers. Not everyone can or wants to sign an NDA required for collaborating with GPU vendors.
Please stop re-posting that forum post. It does not accurately reflect the reality.
