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Building a Linux GPU Driver for the M4 Mac Mini in One Month

422 points · 290 comments · ADevWithAnIdea

  1. thrwy19940314 · · focus · HN ↗
    All this work is tainted since the poster is ex-Apple[1]. There is no way Linux will take that code, since people from Apple also contribute to Linux and this creates a major conflict.

    There's also ongoing issues around Codex for this sort of thing, given Apple is suing OpenAI over stolen trade secrets[2]. And nobody knows whether training data in other models is similarly tainted.

    [1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;codyho.dev&#x2F;documents&#x2F;cody_ho_resume.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;codyho.dev&#x2F;documents&#x2F;cody_ho_resume.pdf

    [2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;2026&#x2F;jul&#x2F;10&#x2F;apple-sues-openai-trade-secrets" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;technology&#x2F;2026&#x2F;jul&#x2F;10&#x2F;apple-sue...

    1. porphyra · · focus · HN ↗
      Very sad. I really want to get Linux on newer Apple chips working flawlessly but I can understand the legal minefield about this particular work.
      1. cromka · · focus · HN ↗
        Nobody does. We&#x27;re only about to start settling it in courts, likely the supreme ones.
        1. porphyra · · focus · HN ↗
          I meant I can understand the fact that a legal minefield exists.

          I didn&#x27;t mean that I understand the actual intricacies of the legal situation.

          Sorry for my confusing wording.

        2. tiahura · · focus · HN ↗
          If your business plan depends on the Roberts’ Court kneecapping AI, pivot.
      2. josephg · · focus · HN ↗
        The only cost was a month of llm usage. If the legal questions matter to you, you or someone else should be able to spend some tokens to redo their work in a similar way. I doubt Apple will actually care much about this. But even if they do, the worst they’ll do is get the repo taken down.

        It may also be legal to do the following: 1. Have an llm read all the code these people have written and produce extensive documentation. 2. Have another llm consume that documentation and write another working driver. I am not a lawyer but I think this may fall under fair use, because reverse engineering is allowed for interoperability.

      3. kccqzy · · focus · HN ↗
        That’s fine. Linux upstream won’t take his code but you can for your own purposes.
        1. SXX · · focus · HN ↗
          There is no reason Linux the Kernel upstream wont take his code. Asahi is not Linux upstream.
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