Intel on Wednesday released open-source software intended to give Linux full-fledged 3D graphics support and to give the chipmaker an advantage over rivals ATI Technologies and Nvidia.

For mechanical engineers making 3D models or enthusiasts sampling slick new user interfaces, Linux relies on proprietary driver software to use graphics acceleration hardware. Graphics chips use hardware to speed up displays of 3D objects such as tanks in a video game or a car in a simulated crash.

But the proprietary approach poses ethical, legal and practical problems, and Intel sees the open-source move as a way to attract customers to its products -- including the 965 Express chipset that will mark the debut of Intel's fourth-generation integrated graphics.

"Having open-source drivers gives us a big edge in this market," said Dirk Hohndel, chief technologist of Intel's Open Source Technology Centre. The software, available at a new Web site, already is integrated with relevant open-source projects, he said.

The move reflects the curious intersection of technological, legal, social and business motivations that operate in the open-source realm. By participating in the collaborative programming movement, Intel builds ties with outside programmers and open-source fans, but it also relinquishes some control over software and forgoes the possibility of keeping some software secrets.

And one politically important ally, the Free Software Foundation, was delighted with Intel's move.

"It's a very important step in the evolution of the industry," said foundation attorney Eben Moglen, who is overseeing a revamp of the General Public Licence (GPL) that governs the Linux kernel. "The move that Intel has taken toward making better interoperability with free operating systems by abandoning secrecy is the sign of a new competitive approach."

More practically, Intel's move is well timed to dovetail with Red Hat and Novell projects to build fancy graphical interfaces into Linux. The new interfaces, often referred to as "bling" and "eye candy," require 3D acceleration.

Although enthusiasts who favour the glitzy interfaces may benefit from Intel's move, it's not clear whether Intel will benefit commercially from its open-source move. For now, engineering customers using Linux for high-end graphics work such as mechanical design rely on add-in graphics cards, not Intel's integrated graphics.

And gaming -- the big market for 3D graphics -- uses Microsoft Windows almost exclusively.

Intel has a major part of the overall graphics market, shipping the graphics chips for 40 percent of PCs in the second quarter of 2006. ATI ships 28 percent and Nvidia ships 20 percent, according to research analyst Jon Peddie.

Peddie thinks it unlikely ATI or Nvidia will release open-source drivers as a result of Intel's move. Details of graphics chips' hardware interfaces are the "family jewels...and expose how the chip itself works," he said. "Nvidia doesn't want ATI to know that and vice versa."

ATI didn't immediately comment on its plans, but Nvidia said it wouldn't change its approach because of Intel's move. "At this time, it does not make sense for us to open-source our graphics drivers," spokesman Brian del Rizzo said. "We are confident in our ability to provide our customers with the best graphics solutions possible."

Open-source advocates have expressed several objections to proprietary drivers. The drivers often stop working if a computer user updates Linux, forcing the computer user to reinstall the driver. Also, some believe the GPL doesn't permit proprietary kernel modules to be plugged into Linux.

No. 2 Linux seller Novell recently banned proprietary Linux modules, though it streamlined the process by which users can download them from their creators.

Timed for new chipset
Intel released the graphics software a week before the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, which begins August 15. But the main impetus for the open-source driver timing was that Intel needed to support its 965 "Broadwater" chipset. The chipset is used in conjunction with Intel's new Core 2 Duo "Conroe" processor and is being released next week, Hohndel said.

"We're releasing drivers before the hardware gets released, which is a nice change of pace," Hohndel said.

Indeed, after Intel's release of open-source Centrino wireless-network drivers lagged Windows by more than a year, Intel pledged to make its Linux support simultaneous.

Intel has four programmers working on the driver project as well as five people testing the code, Hohndel said. Among the programmers is Keith Packard, formerly of HP and Suse Linux. Packard is a major figure in the X.org software that handles basic 2D graphics for Linux.

Intel will maintain the project, but hopes for outside contributions as well, Hohndel said. There are three components to the work: changes to X.org, changes to the Mesa3D software that handles 3D graphics, and Linux kernel software that mediates between the two other components, Hohndel said.

One open-source expert at Hewlett-Packard favours Intel's approach. "All things being equal, we will choose silicon for which we can get open-source drivers every time," said Bdale Garbee, chief technologist of the open source and Linux group at HP.

Proprietary drivers means more work for HP when supporting Linux, Garbee said. When software support for particular hardware isn't built into the Linux kernel, "It gets progressively more difficult for a company like HP to do the recurring engineering work associated with keeping fresh driver versions for new kernels available," Garbee said.