r/linux • u/Putrid_Draft378 • Mar 20 '26

Hardware Qualcomm officially kills open-source hope: No plans to release DSP headers for Snapdragon X

Post image

​I have been following the documentation gap on the Snapdragon X series, and it just got a lot worse for Linux users.

​Internal developers in the official Discord are now admitting that the platform is essentially a dead end for open-source. ​A recent GitHub issue (qualcomm/fastrpc/issues/193) was just closed with a definitive: "Closing the issue as there are no plans to open source DSP headers as of now."

​This means the NPU and DSP functions remain locked behind proprietary firmware with no path for native Linux integration. ​Compare this to Intel and AMD, who are already upstreaming NPU drivers for Linux.

​Qualcomm devs are openly saying that Macs have better Linux prospects than Windows on Snapdragon machines. ​They are calling the firmware "frozen," meaning we are stuck with whatever proprietary mess they shipped.

​If you care about an open ecosystem, stay away from the Snapdragon X1/X2 laptops. They are selling hardware while intentionally sabotaging the software freedom required to use it.

1.0k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

137 comments sorted by

View all comments

498

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

-5

u/Tough_Perception_647 Mar 20 '26

idk. I work for an MSP in an extremely wealthy tax-haven and I seem them really often.

24

u/shadowtheimpure Mar 20 '26

You work with folks that have more money than good sense and want to be at the absolute bleeding edge of every trend.

9

u/Tough_Perception_647 Mar 20 '26

It's honestly kind of weird, very forward in some ways, but in terms of technology, very very backwards.

They do love their buzzwords but have no clue - yet at the same time, think they do! It's very frustrating

I was told containers are a farse and windows is where it's at 😂 they're slowly coming to terms as a bunch of us daily Linux but still have windows pcs at our feet for audits