Messages in this thread |  | | Date | Mon, 3 Jun 1996 13:53:00 -0400 (EDT) | From | Ingo Molnar <> | Subject | GGI and X. [was: Re: SVGA kernel chipset drivers.] |
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> I'm not saying we should kill SVGAlib and DOSemu and GGI etc etc, but they > should be considered temporary solutions to specific problems, NOT a generic > kernel kind of thing. As such, they get the minimal kernel support they > deserve, and nothing more (and that support they already have).
GGI is rather a "generic videocard" interface, to be put between X and the hardware, SVGAlib and the hardware, SVGATextMode and the hardware, and syncronizing the (already existing) VC switching process between these components.
Since the now working code uses kernel traps for some of the interface components (and shared libraries for other components), it's very important to plan the X support well. I'm not talking for the GGI people, but IMHO this is the most important task, and if this fails, then the whole concept fails. X shouldnt suffer from such an interface! It should run on the same speed, but with a slightly more reusable "graphics card device driver" notion.
If X, as a way to interface with human eyes is considered to be superior, i'd like to object. Text screens at least are and will be very useful, and X says nothing about text screens.
[ i'm telling this as a proud owner of an SVGATextMode driven 90 Hz 100x37 16x9 charset text mode ]
It might happen that the new (and very promising) DirectVideo() implementation in XFree86 swallows all SVGAlib applications [it should!], but text mode is still a cheap and efficient way of doing screen based work.
this is really a matter of taste, and i'm willing to give up textmode once i see a nearly as usable solution in X. [yes i have a very fast videocard]. Maybe you are right and this is only a matter of time.
-- mingo
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