Radeon Software For Linux Dropping AMD's Proprietary OpenGL/Vulkan Drivers
With how well the open-source and upstream AMD Radeon Linux graphics driver stack is these days between the mainline Linux kernel and Mesa, the Radeon Software for Linux packaged driver releases are not usually notable these days on Phoronix... The packaged Radeon Software for Linux drivers haven't been popular with gamers/enthusiasts in years given how good the upstream support is and those packaged bits mostly useful for those just running enterprise Linux distributions with older versions of Linux and Mesa. But the next Radeon Software for Linux packaged driver release is set to introduce a big change.
The RadeonSI OpenGL driver has been in superb shape for the past decade now while the proprietary AMD OpenGL driver as used on Windows has been available as an option within the Radeon Software for Linux driver. The proprietary Vulkan driver used on Windows and derived from the open-source AMDVLK driver codebase has been AMD's long preferred Vulkan driver on Linux. But with the next major Radeon Software for Linux release branch, those proprietary options are going away!
Last week AMD released the Radeon Software for Linux 25.10.1 packaged driver release. That update itself really isn't too excited for enthusiasts/gamers given the above explanation, but a Phoronix reader pointed out an interesting nugget within the release notes: the proprietary OpenGL and Vulkan driver components are going away.
The 25.10.1 release notes mention:
Both the OpenGL and Vulkan proprietary drivers are to be removed from the Radeon Software for Linux driver package in favor of the Mesa drivers. Most exciting from this is that the Mesa Vulkan driver RADV will be officially supported.
Mesa RADV has long been the "community" Radeon Vulkan driver developed by Red Hat, Google, Valve, and others. It's been the "unofficial" driver albeit what is shipped by Linux distributions out-of-the-box and more widely used than the AMDVLK open-source driver alternative or the proprietary derivative that has been shipping within Radeon Software for Linux.
This is a great win and could be argued that it's a long overdue change for AMD to get solidly behind their Mesa drivers.
The release notes mention AMD AMF will also no longer be included with users encouraged instead to target the Video Acceleration API (VA-API) within Mesa for their multimedia accelerated needs.
The RadeonSI OpenGL driver has been in superb shape for the past decade now while the proprietary AMD OpenGL driver as used on Windows has been available as an option within the Radeon Software for Linux driver. The proprietary Vulkan driver used on Windows and derived from the open-source AMDVLK driver codebase has been AMD's long preferred Vulkan driver on Linux. But with the next major Radeon Software for Linux release branch, those proprietary options are going away!
Last week AMD released the Radeon Software for Linux 25.10.1 packaged driver release. That update itself really isn't too excited for enthusiasts/gamers given the above explanation, but a Phoronix reader pointed out an interesting nugget within the release notes: the proprietary OpenGL and Vulkan driver components are going away.
The 25.10.1 release notes mention:
"Consistent with AMD’s commitment to Open Source software, we will be making the following changes to the composition of the Radeon Software for Linux releases, starting with 25.20: The Mesa Vulkan driver will be officially supported, along with Mesa OpenGL and Multimedia support. The AMD proprietary OpenGL and Vulkan drivers will no longer be included in the release."
Both the OpenGL and Vulkan proprietary drivers are to be removed from the Radeon Software for Linux driver package in favor of the Mesa drivers. Most exciting from this is that the Mesa Vulkan driver RADV will be officially supported.
Mesa RADV has long been the "community" Radeon Vulkan driver developed by Red Hat, Google, Valve, and others. It's been the "unofficial" driver albeit what is shipped by Linux distributions out-of-the-box and more widely used than the AMDVLK open-source driver alternative or the proprietary derivative that has been shipping within Radeon Software for Linux.
This is a great win and could be argued that it's a long overdue change for AMD to get solidly behind their Mesa drivers.
The release notes mention AMD AMF will also no longer be included with users encouraged instead to target the Video Acceleration API (VA-API) within Mesa for their multimedia accelerated needs.