Question1.
I used to use the propreitary driver I downloaded directly from Nvidia (the .run file). But, sometime back I think I switched to the driver provided by the rpmfusion repo.
Now, I want to know what graphics driver I am using: Is it Nouveau (the open source driver for Nvidia) or the propreitary one from Nvidia ?
That should be dnf list installed \*nvidia\*. It is generally better to install nvidia drivers by following the rpmfusion Nvidia HowTo for these reasons:
Staying within the Fedora packaging system means you don’t have to use unfamiliar commands to manage the installation.
The rpmfusion drivers are widely used, so more thoroughly tested than other installations. If you have problems there is a good chance others will understand your configuration and can help.
The “Nvidia How To” also tells you how to switch between nouveau and Nvidia drivers. If the Nvidia drivers have a problem it is very helpful to be able to switch wihout removing the Nvidia modules.
There are other 3rd party Nvidia packages created by someone who needed to tweak the configuration or didn’t want to wait for the rpmfusion package to appear. Delays may be needed to resolve issues that only affect certain models or use cases. When a new kernel arrives, there is usually a delay before the associated new Nvidia drivers are packaged. Drivers for older drivers may no longer have an active maintainer so may not be available unless a volunteer with access to the older hardware steps into the breach.
It’s generally considered the lesser option. You usually want to go with a package tailored to your distro, either from the distro repos themselves or a reputable third party. It tends to give you an overall better experience, and less hassle during updates and removals.
It’s kind of the same difference between installing an app through the package manager and building it manually from a git repo. - Both work fine, but unless you have a specific reason for building it, it’s just an added headache.
Sometime back, when the display drivers were playing up, I ran the below dnf remove command.
Since the * (asterik) was not escaped, what could have happened ? I mean, would it have not removed anything at all or removed much more than any packages with nvidia in the package name ?