Until now, Linux was using their proprietary drivers for the video cards or acceleration chips. They were looking for a way to improve the performance. And Intel is there for them.

Intel sees the open-source move as a way to attract customers to its graphics products–such as its upcoming 965 Express chipset–and give it an advantage over rivals ATI Technologies and Nvidia.

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

Intel will participate in this move with all they have creating this way ties with outside developers and open-source fans. On the other hand, it relinquishes some control over the software and forgoes the possibility of keeping some coding secrets.

“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 License (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.”

Intel’s is right on time because Red Hat and Novell are planning a new and fancy graphical interface for Linux. For this Linux requires 3D acceleration which seems to come from Intel.

Although enthusiasts who favor the glitzy interfaces may benefit from Intel’s move, it’s not clear whether there will be a benefit for the chipmaker itself. For now, engineering customers using Linux for high-end graphics work, such as mechanical design, rely on add-in graphics cards, not on Intel’s integrated graphics. And gaming–the big market for 3D graphics–uses Microsoft Windows almost exclusively.

From the competition, the responses are vague. ATI is not taking any actions - at least for now - while NVIDIA will stand still and what to see where all this will go.

“At this time, it does not make sense for us to open-source our graphics drivers,” Nvidia spokesman Brian del Rizzo said. “We are confident in our ability to provide our customers with the best graphics solutions possible.”

“Intel’s move may cause Nvidia and ATI to rethink open-sourcing some areas of their drivers, improving the level of support, or funneling more resources to their Linux department,”

Will Linux see a better future or is this just dust in the wind?