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SubjectRe: GGI Project Unhappy On Linux
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:

----

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.)

----

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/

Spammers: Please email my blacklisting service at "spam@logic.net".


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