It was likely an Nvidia (therefore upstream) decision. See this similar post:
Yes, Nvidia dropped support for version 390 in 2022, and 2022 was the last supported Ubuntu release. By the way, nvidia-driver-390 is still available in Jammy archives.
By this logic, Nvidia dropped support for version 470 in 2024, so what is the last supported Ubuntu release? 2024? How is it going to work after the driver is removed from the archives?
Nvidia may have dropped support, but haven’t removed the driver from download servers or issued an update that broke users desktops, …nor did Microsoft. You can still download both 470, 390 and older versions.
The nvidia-driver-470 should remain available for users on Ubuntu 2024, kernel 6.8. Removing it from the archives, or from users’ desktops is a misguided move.
I hope someone at Canonical can stop it before it’s too late.
You’ll have to take that up with Nvidia. Since the drivers are proprietary and have a proprietary license, Nvidia has complete control and decision making over how and when they are distributed. That’s not up to Canonical or anybody else who works on Ubuntu.
Is there any evidence that Nvidia prevents Canonical from keeping the driver in their archives? Did Nvidia make the decision to remove it?
Considering that would be between Nvidia and Canonical, no. That said, they have the rights over this, not Canonical. Nvidia didn’t even give permission to distribute the Nvidia drivers on the ISO images until relatively recently, so they maintain control over distribution rights.
However, you are clearly barking up the wrong tree here. Nvidia chose which kernels their drivers will support. If their driver doesn’t support a kernel that you have installed, then all bets are off; it’s not going to work.
It’s a similar situation to how Firefox is now distributed as a snap. Mozilla, with their license, gets to dictate how Firefox is distributed. Mozilla, not Canonical, made the decision that Firefox would get distributed as a snap and that the .deb would be converted to a transitional package to install the snap version.
Upstreams have more power over their software distribution than you might think. There are exceptions, such as if the upstream decides to license their product with the GPL, which is a majority of the software included in Ubuntu. However, if the license is the Mozilla license or a proprietary license, then the distributor holds all rights as to how that is distributed.
These are things to keep in mind. Canonical is also a private business that makes sure that the interests of their clients are kept in mind.
There is no way to know, nor are we privy to that information. That’s a conversation between two companies that have their own business agreement.
So, there is no evinence, at least not public. Why then is nvidia-driver-470 to be “removed in the future”?
I haven’t installed any new kernels. Things worked quite well indeed for me with Kubuntu 2024 and kernel 6.8.
It was an update by Canonical that uninstalled the driver.
As far as I can gather, Nvidia had nothing to do with it.
Nvidia doesn’t have access to our repositories. They have to ask Canonical to do it for them.
Stop making Canonical the bad guy. It’s a bad look here.
Well, …thank you for your attention to this matter, even thou I had hoped for something more substantial. I don’t really care who the bad guy is, or if there is one. All I want is to know if and when my hardware will stop working the way it does now because the driver is no longer available. I don’t like surprises.
On the other hand, if it does look bad, perhaps someone can comment on this, so that users like myself can make an informed decision.
Sorry, what do you meed by “CVEs”, please ?
470 is old and stable, no need to fix . What’s the problem with maintain it ?
There is a lots of users with it. I’ll regret if Ubuntu follows the logic of obsolescence which pushes towards over-consumption.
So even if you are fine with some open security hole in the driver that allows a remote attacker to sniff your home banking password via key-logging and send it to a central server which then offers it for sale in some darknet forum, most people are not …
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Please don’t make me say what I’ve not said.
I’m just trying to use my hardware with ubuntu. In practical, this mean use the nvidia driver. And I know too much people who do the same, with this (old) driver. But a large proportion of them are not part of the well-off middle class ( or higher).
But thanks for the warning, anyway !
Moderator Note:
We’re seeing some misplaced hostility, and it’s time for everybody to stop it.
If you are unhappy with the choices that Nvidia has made available to you, tell it to Nvidia.
Only they can support their proprietary software.
You are their customer. You paid them (not us) for your hardware.
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The situation is rather awkward, as a consistent policy with EOL nvidia drivers and Ubuntu LTSs had a predictable effect of people developing expectations. For those that do not know, to this day, nvidia-390 is available in the Jammy repositories for those who need it, even though it went EOL in 2022. The same happened with nvidia-340 and nvidia-304 I had happened to use.
What has changed?
To reiterate Ian:
Ubuntu has zero control over what Nvidia decides.
As this discussion has devolved, we will be closing this topic. If anybody starts a new topic in an attempt to continue this topic, action may be taken on that individual.
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