Chip maker VIA has launched a beta version of its VIA Linux Portal.

The first offering is graphics drivers for the VIA CN896 digital media IGP chipset for the new Ubuntu 8.04 LTS distribution.

Documentation and source code for the drivers will be released over the coming weeks, and official forums and bug tracking will be added later this year.

Richard Brown, vice president of corporate marketing at VIA, said: "Opening the VIA Linux Portal is an important step in our long-term open source initiative.

"Offering support for Ubuntu, one of the most widely known of the Linux distributions, is an ideal place to start."

VIA has promised to adhere to a regular release schedule aligned with kernel changes and the release of major Linux distributions.

"We welcome the steps being taken by VIA to improve its support to the open source community," said Chris Kenyon, director of business development at Canonical, which sponsors the development of Ubuntu.

"We look forward to working with VIA to ensure that these drivers get built into Ubuntu by default, and that Ubuntu developers and users enjoy a great experience when using VIA platforms."