Date: 14 Oct 1998 00:01:03 +0200 From: dag-erli@ifi.uio.no (Dag-Erling C. =?iso-8859-1?Q?Sm=F8rgrav?= ) To: Graeme Tait <graeme@echidna.com> Cc: "Jason C. Wells" <jcwells@u.washington.edu>, John Sconiers <John_Sconieres@ama-assn.org>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Metro-X -vs Accelerated-X Message-ID: <xzp67dop1eo.fsf@hrotti.ifi.uio.no> In-Reply-To: Graeme Tait's message of "Tue, 13 Oct 1998 16:52:42 -0700" References: <Pine.BSF.4.02A.9810131234190.1646-100000@s8-37-26.student.washington.edu> <3623E7CA.2676@echidna.com>
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Graeme Tait <graeme@echidna.com> writes: > I was told the following by a vendor of FreeBSD-equipped systems; I > don't know how true it is, and I may not be reporting the story > quite accurately: That there are relatively few chipsets in relation > to the many vendors of video cards, and so much of the difference > hangs on proprietary features coded into the cards, etc. That is a gross exaggeration (though I hesitate to call it a lie). With modern manufacturing methods being what they are, the chips are so integrated most video cards basically consist of just two chips (not counting the RAM and BIOS PROM): the graphics processor and the RAMDAC. There's not room for much customization since the graphics processor usually also contains the bus interface. The only thing XFree86 needs to know to work is the brand, model and revision of the graphics processor (so it can map in the video memory and use the accelerator functions), and the brand, model and revision of the RAMDAC (so it can program the resolution and color depth). The problem is with manufacturers refusing to release programming information for their new chips. Usually, the information always surfaces after a year or two, but free software lags behind because a) it can't afford to buy that information the moment the chip hits the market and b) distributing source code based on information under NDA is a violation of that NDA... DES (IANAL; correct me if I'm wrong) -- Dag-Erling Smørgrav - dag-erli@ifi.uio.no To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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