Talks to Watch

Linus Torvalds: Nvidia, Fuck You!

1.9M views · Jun 17, 2012 · 0:41 · 0 HN recommenders · 12 mentions · discussed 2012–2026

A one-minute clip of Linus Torvalds telling Nvidia "fuck you" over its lack of support for Linux and open source. It is taken from a Q&A session.

Why Hacker News points people here: Cited whenever Nvidia's relationship with open-source and Linux drivers comes up.

“Nvidia has been the single worst company we've ever dealt with.”HN comment, 2016

What Hacker News said 12

Cites itgagan2020Sep 2012

Linus Torvalds's remarks about Nvidia.

Full comment

This effort of Nvidia is brand reconciliation for Linux users. After the talk where Linus mentioned Nvidia. this video

in “Hybrid graphics support in Nvidia 's Linux driver” · view on HN
Cites itD9uSep 2013

“Linus has always been abrasive when confronted by what he sees as less than intelligent comments.”

Example of Linus being abrasive toward Nvidia.

Full comment

How long have you been following the Linux Kernel Mailing List? Linus has always been abrasive when confronted by what he sees as less than intelligent comments. Then there was one of my favorites; When Linus made the following statement to Nvidia. this video

Cites itIntermernetJul 2014

Torvalds criticizing Nvidia's anti-open-source stance.

Full comment

Yes they're completely orthogonal. Linus (seemingly) doesn't care about a person's race, creed, gender, or sexual preference. He cares that they are breaking Linux ( link ), spreading misinformation about Linux ( link ), releasing software that breaks Linux (GCC 4.9.0), or being generally, and consistantly anti open-source ( this video )

in “GCC 4.9 is doing “some seriously crazy shit” according to Linus Torvalds” · view on HN
Cites itbryanlarsenFeb 2016

Torvalds on Nvidia's binary kernel module.

Full comment

Exactly. They're arguing the combined work clause, which would automatically rule out all binary-only modules, such as nvidia.ko. Most previous arguments about zfs.ko were about the derived work clause, which is much more grey. I belive that nvidia.ko would be more likely to be ruled a derived work than ZFS.ko, but that's hard to tell. It does seem silly to argue about ZFS in this context. ZFS is open source and much less offensive to kernel developers than nvidia.ko.[1] If nvidia.ko is fine, then so is zfs.ko. If nvidia.ko isn't fine, zfs.ko may or may not be fine. Ubuntu has been shipping nvidia.ko for years. 1: this video

in “GPL Violations Related to Combining ZFS and Linux” · view on HN
Cites itStRoyDec 2016

“Nvidia has been the single worst company we've ever dealt with.”

Torvalds's famous criticism of Nvidia.

Full comment

Without any conflict, uh? this video > Nvidia has been the single worst company we've ever dealt with. > - Linus Kernel devs are antagonizing the only two GPU makers that matters. Besides the kernel, there has been some flame going between NVIDIA and Wayland devs too. Open source devs are immature men who do not understand the word compromise.

in “AMD responds to Linux kernel maintainer's rejection of AMDGPU patch” · view on HN
Cites itblueblistersJul 2020

“Like Torvalds says [1]: Fuck You, Nvidia.”

Torvalds telling Nvidia off.

Full comment

The economic incentive is simple: open-sourcing the driver will allow an open-source API to interact with the hardware, allowing AMD/other competitors to support the same API. So instead of competing at the silicon level, Nvidia chooses to set up unnecessary barriers to entry at massive cost to developers/users. Like Torvalds says [1]: Fuck You, Nvidia. [1]: this video

Cites itvngzsJul 2020

“Nvidia is bad because it actively undermines open-source.”

Torvalds quote on Nvidia as worst hardware vendor.

Full comment

> The claim that nvidia is bad at open source because it does not open source its Linux driver is also quite wrong [...] Hey! Wait a second, there. Nvidia isn't bad because it has a properietary Linux driver. Nvidia is bad because it actively undermines open-source. Quoting Linus Torvalds (2012) [0]: > I'm also happy to very publicly point out that Nvidia has been one of the worst trouble spots we've had with hardware manufacturers, and that is really sad because then Nvidia tries to sell chips - a lot of chips - into the Android Market. Nvidia has been the single worst company we've ever dealt with. > [Lifts middle finger] So Nvidia, fuck you. Nvidia managed to push some PR blurbs about how it was improving the open-source driver in 2014, but six years later, Nouveau is still crap compared to their proprietary driver [1]. Drew DeVault, on Nvidia support in Sway [2]: > Nvidia, on the other hand, have been fucking assholes and have treated Linux like utter shit for our entire relationship. About a year ago they announced “Wayland support” for their proprietary driver. This included KMS and DRM support (years late, I might add), but not GBM support. They shipped something called EGLStreams instead, a concept that had been discussed and shot down by the Linux graphics development community before. They did this because it makes it easier for them to keep their driver proprietary without having work with Linux developers on it. Without GBM, Nvidia does not support Wayland, and th

in “Nvidia is reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ to buy ARM for more than $32B” · view on HN
Cites ittotorovirusSep 2020

“nvidia is notorious for being not nice to oss developers as Linus Torvalds claims”

Torvalds on Nvidia's attitude to open source developers.

Full comment

nvidia is notorious for being not nice to oss developers as Linus Torvalds claims: this video I wonder how Linux would react to this news.

in “Nvidia to Acquire Arm for $40B” · view on HN
Cites itnebulousthreeMay 2023

“You already know this clip”

Well-known Torvalds clip on Nvidia.

Full comment

Given the Linux bent, it makes sense considering AMD's relationship with the open source community relative to Intel's, and to an even greater extent NVIDIA's. You already know this clip: this video

in “Intel Issues New CPU Microcode for New, Undisclosed Security Updates” · view on HN
Cites itLoveMortuusJan 2024

“This video (it's just a clip of the original) might give you a bit of context”

Short clip giving context on Torvalds and Nvidia.

Full comment

This video (it's just a clip of the original) might give you a bit of context: Title: Linus Torvalds: Nvidia, F** You! Duration: 0:39 this video

in “Bazzite – a SteamOS-like OCI image for desktop, living room, and handheld PCs” · view on HN
Cites it29athrowawayNov 2024

Torvalds's blunt remarks on Nvidia.

Full comment

link > We don't merge kernel code just because user space was written by a retarded monkey on crack - Linus Torvalds Also: this video

in “ReiserFS and the Art and Artist Problem” · view on HN
Cites itworksonmineJan 2026

“And before blaming Linux watch this short clip[0].”

Clip showing Torvalds's view of Nvidia Linux support.

Full comment

> just picked up a 3080 with 32gb ram Prepare for some potential headaches, do some research and see what kind of problems you might encounter. And before blaming Linux watch this short clip[0]. [0]: this video

in “I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows” · view on HN