Holdouts include virtualization , Wi-fi chipmaker and, most notably, graphics

Nvidia has said it prefers to fix driver issues internally. Others say Nvidia, and others, are more interested in protecting their code from competitors.

Last year, more than 200 developers demanding that all drivers created for Linux also be released open-source.

According to Kroah-Hartman, publicly affirms the philosophy that "all Linux drivers should be released to the community.... Not all companies agree with that."

Neither VMware, Broadcom nor Nvidia immediately responded to requests for comment.