“The lack of open source drivers for graphics hardware has long been a major obstacle for Linux developers and Linux desktop users,” said Nat Friedman, chief technology and strategy officer for Open Source at Novell. “Our ultimate goal is complete, high-quality open source drivers for all video hardware. Today's announcement brings us one major step closer. Novell is pleased to have extended our collaboration with AMD to deliver the initial drivers that will allow Open Source developers to make the Linux experience even better on desktops, laptops and workstations, and we look forward to contributing this initial code to X.Org.”

“AMD announced its intention to extend support of open source ATI drivers at Red Hat's Summit conference in May of this year, so we are delighted that the work necessary to achieve this has come to fruition,” said Brian Stevens, Red Hat's Chief Technology Officer. “This action affirms AMD's commitment to Linux and the Open Source community and will greatly improve the “out-of-box” experience for users. AMD's decision has a strong supporting business case, demonstrating that Linux clients represent a significant market opportunity. It is a bold decision for AMD, and they deserve full credit.”

"The combination of AMD's graphics hardware and open source innovation will accelerate the emergence of new desktop computing technologies", said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu. "AMD's timing is excellent, given the surge in Linux desktop adoption and the focus now in the Open Source community on next generation visualization and desktop interaction models."