Messages in this thread | | | From | "Jordan Mendelson" <> | Subject | ANNOUNCE: GGI-0.0.9 is out | Date | Tue, 6 Jan 1998 17:31:38 -0500 |
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I hope this doesn't get posted twice, however it was requested that this be forwarded to this mailing list.
> Path: shubashi.physik.tu-chemnitz.de!seeger > From: Steffen Seeger <seeger@shubashi.physik.tu-chemnitz.de> > Subject: GGI-0.0.9 public release > Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce comp.os.development.system > comp.os.development.apps comp.os.linux.x > Summary: > Keywords: GGI graphics X > > > Hello All People Reading, > > > This message is to announce the release of GGI-0.0.9 public. > > What is GGI? > ============ > > GGI - The General Graphics Interface Project is an attempt to > setup a general, fast, efficient and secure interface to graphics > and human-machine interaction hardware for UNIX-like operating > systems. It allows normal applications to have direct but > controlled access to the underlying graphics hardware without > compromising system stability. The basic design consists of > two parts. First a kernel part, which does all the critical > operations that may cause the system to hang or may cause damage > to the hardware. Second is a library, that translates the drawing > requests from applications into 'commands' for the kernel part. > > More detailed information can be found at > http://synergy.foo.net/~ggi > > GGI-0.0.9 Features > ================== > > The highlights of GGI-0.0.9 can be summarized as: > > * XGGI, a non-SUID X server running with GGI is now > available. The kernel part is not backward compatible > yet, but this will be fixed with the next release. > You will be able to choose between old SUID servers > and the new, hardware independent XGGI server then. > > * first implementation of libGGI. This library allows > GGI applications to run in various environments without > a change. E.g. you can simply run the XGGI server > Žon the hardwareŽ and Žon itselfŽ. LibGGI has been > ported to various platforms, like AIX and IRIX, and more > platforms will be supported in the next release. You > can use libGGI without the kernel part, if your card > is not supported yet. > > * A replacement for SVGAlib that allows you to run older > SVGAlib applications is included. However, they should > not need root-rights anymore. This lib is still under > development, so please report us your experiences > with it. > > * easy to use support for mixed brand multi-display > configurations. You can plug in two video cards, from > different vendors and run independent graphics > applications (or consoles) on both. Configurations > tested include S3 968 with normal VGA, 3Dlabs Permedia > based cards, another (two) S3 968 cards and lots more. > But multihead capability depends on the particular > drivers and hardware, so not all supported cards > can be run multi-display. > > * support for mixed brand multi-input configurations. > Connect as many mice to your computer as you want and > use them with your favourite graphics application or > even on the console. No extra configuration needed, just > load the driver. Together with the multi-display > capability this allows you to run multi-terminal > machines. Simply connect two keyboards (one to the > keyboard port and one to the ps/2 aux port), plus > two serial mice and run two independent graphics > applications (e.g. a game on one and XGGI on the > other). Of course none of them needs other than > access permissions to some special files. > > * greatly extended driver base. The following hardware > is supported: > > - various multisync and monosync monitors. > - chipsets: > Chips & Technologies 655xx > Cirrus Logic 542x, Laguna 3D (CL-GD546x) > Cyrix Media GX, thanks to Cyrix Corporation > IBM VGA, Hercules MGA (text mode only) > Matrox MGA 2x64 (Millenium I/II) and > MGA 1064 (Mystique) > S3 86c765 (Trio64V+), S3 928, S3 86c968, > S3 86c964 > Tseng ET4000 (including W32, W32i, W32p), > ET 6000 > > Thanks to 3Dlabs Incorporated, a Permedia > driver has been developed and will be > released within the next days. Source > release conditions are not fully figured > out yet, but will probably be similar to > that of the SUSE/ELSA X servers. A > Permedia2 driver is in the works and will > be announced separately. > > - clock chips: > various fixed frequency clock chips > found on S3, Western Digital, Tseng Labs > and Cirrus Logic cards > > various programmable clock chips > > - DACŽs: > ATT 20c504, ATT 20c505, Bt485, > TI TVP 3026, SC 15026 and various > integrated DACŽs. > > So, if all the parts on your particular graphics card > are supported, chances are very good it runs with GGI. > However, we have tested only on our boards, so test results > are very welcome. > > * first applications are available for GGI. Please > check our website for more information, this is changing > daily. > > If you got interested, you may download a copy of the > GGI 0.0.9 public release from the following sites: > > http://synergy.foo.net/~ggi and its various mirrors > ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/pub/org/g/ggi > > ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/Linux/ALPHA/ggi > [uploaded today, so it should appear by the end of the week] > > However, though this software is still in ALPHA stage, but we > encourage everyone interested to test and contribute to the > development. > > Future Plans > ============ > > As you see, GGI-0.0.9 is a milestone that marks the first version > showing a useable proof of concepts to the public. We are now > heading towards the next release of GGI, code-named DEGAS. > Its main features will be: > > * accelerated X server > * fully accelerated libGGI > * accelerated OpenGL-like API for the supported chipsets. > * backward compatible kernel part. We also plan to work > closely with the Linux/SGI effort to ensure compatiblity > of the /dev/graphic special file interfaces between the > two platforms. > * enhanced support for graphical consoles, allowing you to > run GGI-enabled kernels on any VESA card. You will not > have acceleratation then, but may have X even on not > supported cards. This will also allow to take a second > attempt at the m68k port of KGI. > > This is a lot to do, but we look forward to present the next version > of GGI to the UNIX community, perhaps being out of ALPHA state then. > > Thanks > ====== > > The GGI Project team wishes to thank all developers involved in > this effort. Also, we would like to thank Stone Microsystems, > ELSA GmbH, Cyrix Inc., S3 Inc, Matrox Inc and 3Dlabs Inc. for > their support of our efforts. > > Also, we thank the Freiburger Linux Users Group for their donation > that will enable us to provide Permedia2 support. > > Finally, we want to thank you for reading, testing and commenting > on GGI. We would like to know your opinion and/or experiences > with GGI. If you like it, tell us, and if you donŽt like it, > please tell us why. > > More information about GGI can be found on > http://synergy.foo.net/~ggi > > > Whatever is your taste, we wish you a happy new year and a lot of > fun with GGI-0.0.9 > > > Best Regards, > > Steffen Seeger on behalf of The GGI Project Team. > > ------------- The GGI Project: http://synergy.foo.net/~ggi ------------- >
-- Jordan Mendelson : www.wserv.com/~jordy/ Web Services, Inc. : www.wserv.com
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