Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 26 Mar 1998 21:28:18 +0000 (GMT) | From | "Edward S. Marshall" <> | Subject | Re: GGI Project Unhappy On Linux |
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On Fri, 27 Mar 1998, Ragnar Hojland Espinosa wrote: > X = portable, network-transparent window system > XF86_* = X Window System Servers for UNIX on x86 platforms > > So X is not the equivalent of, say, svgalib, and what's being discussed > here isn't X really, but it's graphic servers. Or that should be it, IMO.
Let me throw in a passing comment here as well: everyone is really comparing apples and oranges when comparing KGI/GGI and X. To extend what you said above, let's throw out a few definitions so that everyone can know what each other is talking about:
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X is a protocol which provides graphics services, independant of the underlying hardware. There is some confusion if X should also be considered to encompass libraries such as libX11. For the sake of argument, let us say no for now.
KGI is a kernel API, which hits the hardware directly.
SVGAlib is an interface to graphics hardware, hitting it directly from userspace in an insecure manner (requiring all linked apps to run suid root).
GGI, or more accurately, "libggi", is an interface to various hardware interfaces: KGI, libX11, etc.
XF86 is an implementation of X, interfacing directly with the hardware in an insecure manner (running suid root, with the potential to wreck havok on completely non-graphics related parts of the system). This provides an interface via libX11 and other libraries to programs.
XGGI is an implementation of X, using GGI as the hardware interface. This access is only as secure as the GGI interface, which could actually be SVGAlib, libX11, etc.
Berlin is a new high-level interface scheme, similar to XF86 in nature, using GGI as the hardware interface. (I'm surprised noone has thrown this out there yet.)
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Berlin is a potential replacement for X. When discussing this aspect, talk about Berlin, not GGI.
GGI is just another -target- that X can operate on top of, just like the SVGA target, the S3 target, etc.
KGI is just another -target- that GGI can operate on top of, just like X11, SVGAlib, etc.
So, when talking about the kernel portion of the "GGI Project", you are talking about a tiny hardware interface called KGI, and separate modules tailored for specific graphics hardware.
When talking about the userspace portion of the "GGI Project", you are talking about a set of libraries (most predominantly libggi) collectively called GGI, which provide an interface to any number of different display targets.
They are very different animals, and all serve different purposes. It really pains me to see everyone mixing terms, which just generally lead to a lot of confusion on everyone's part.
-- -------------------. emarshal at logic.net .--------------------------------- Edward S. Marshall `-----------------------' http://www.logic.net/~emarshal/
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