From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 3 08:42:52 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7729816A4CE; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:42:52 +0000 (GMT) Received: from leguin.anholt.net (69-30-77-85.dq1sn.easystreet.com [69.30.77.85]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ABC7F43D39; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:42:51 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from eta@lclark.edu) Received: from leguin.anholt.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by leguin.anholt.net (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id iB38bbCw070942; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 00:37:38 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from eta@lclark.edu) Received: (from anholt@localhost) by leguin.anholt.net (8.13.1/8.13.1/Submit) id iB38bTvF070941; Fri, 3 Dec 2004 00:37:29 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from eta@lclark.edu) X-Authentication-Warning: leguin.anholt.net: anholt set sender to eta@lclark.edu using -f From: Eric Anholt To: David Xu In-Reply-To: <41AFC2EE.9080404@freebsd.org> References: <41AE3F80.1000506@freebsd.org> <41AE55D7.8020709@freebsd.org> <41AEA4B8.6080508@acm.org> <20041202075530.3b33db1b.flynn@energyhq.es.eu.org> <1101973835.66100.15.camel@leguin> <41AFC2EE.9080404@freebsd.org> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <1102063049.66100.71.camel@leguin> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.4.6 Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 00:37:29 -0800 cc: "Kamal R. Prasad" cc: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: My project wish-list for the next 12 months X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 08:42:52 -0000 On Thu, 2004-12-02 at 17:35, David Xu wrote: > I maybe jump onto wrong thread, but FreeBSD's lack of > graphics framebuffer which is in Linux really kicked away > lots of embedded projects, one is QT-embedded which > simple can not be run on FreeBSD, many embedded projects > here just need it. We do definitely need framebuffer. But I think we'd be best served by trying to drag mode-setting code out of the X Server and into a userland library, rather than integrating it all into the kernel. (At most, implement a simple fixed mode supported everywhere in the kernel for intial boot, then a userland system of some sort takes over after that). Mode-setting code is huge, easy to mess up, and I don't think we have the resources to do it well. However, if someone (I fear doing this myself) were to get it into a userland library, we could probably convince the X Server to use it, and maybe even Linux kernel folks, and end up keeping all grahpics driver developers focused on a single codebase rather than split across many OSes or kernel versus X Server. Here's why I personally think this is really important: We've got Mesa-solo laying around -- OpenGL hardware acceleration on top of a framebuffer, if FreeBSD just had a framebuffer system. Then we've got the Xglx server, which runs on top of an OpenGL implementation and provides at least some of the Render acceleration that I was talking about in the parent message. Also, a number of X Server folks want to get mode-setting moved out of the X Server entirely -- let it be configured by system daemons, probably controlled over dbus. It would be very nice if FreeBSD happened to be ready for what Linux people would like to do. -- Eric Anholt eta@lclark.edu http://people.freebsd.org/~anholt/ anholt@FreeBSD.org Thank goodness for the 22nd Amendment