[magic_quotes]

> Closed source GPU drivers are not ordinary drivers. They have a lot of quirks and workarounds for programs, especially games.

The quirks part is a bit of a meme. Mesa contains a few application-specific overrides here and there: https://github.com/mesa3d/mesa/blob/c62996796cc46f1a1406f365..., https://github.com/mesa3d/mesa/blob/a678ec9b8c057311ed7e9697.... The reason Linux drivers, including the one from Nvidia, have fewer quirks is simply that Linux has fewer 3d applications overall. Those quirks also reside in userspace driver parts and should not affect system stability.

> When you try to port these drivers as-is to another platforms, things get awry.

Again, quirks are a property of a relatively high-level userspace part of the driver. There is nothing hazardous about porting them.