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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!news.vbc.net!samba.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!news.walltech.com!hsno.wco.com!news.wco.com!miwok!imci4!newsfeed.internetmci.com!solaris.cc.vt.edu!not-for-mail From: erik@fenris.campus.vt.edu () Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Sometimes you need X server source (Was: Why to not buy Matrox Millennium) Followup-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Date: 27 Mar 1996 10:45:02 GMT Organization: A random machine somewhere Lines: 43 Message-ID: <4jb67e$eil@solaris.cc.vt.edu> References: <4j21ph$crr@slappy.cs.utexas.edu> <4j36ev$prl@news.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE> <4ja099$r8k@ceylon.gte.com> <4ja28c$9da@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: fenris.campus.vt.edu NNTP-Posting-User: erik X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950824BETA PL0] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.apps:13776 comp.os.linux.development.system:20193 comp.os.linux.x:27864 comp.os.linux.hardware:34630 comp.os.linux.setup:47668 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:334 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:2832 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:2613 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:16182 Jason V. Robertson (jroberts@ehsn19.cen.uiuc.edu) wrote: : : And a binary X server can have LBX as part of its standard distribution just : as well as a source distributed, if LBX ever gets straightened out. The point is not what a binary X server can have.. it's what it doesn't have RIGHT NOW. If I want binary only software, there are operating systems that give me much more options than Xinside out there.. Need I name them? Running Linux or BSD or anything gives me the source code to most things, including everything I run at the moment. I like to be able to see how people did things in the Xserver ( particularly as I still havehopes of helping out when my time increases ). I like to be able to modify it for either low memory conditions ( cut out EVERYTHING I don't like ) or for when I need PEX/PHIGS support, or when I want to hack it for some nifty feature. I can't do that with Xinside. Lets say I wanted to disable TCP connects to the X server because I am using a standalone PC with a network connection. Can I do that with Xinside? ( and no, I don't want to buy a router to drop these packets.. I'm a student, not a business ). With XFree86, all I need is the drive space, and a recompile later, I have a Xserver that does what I want it to. Security patches.. I'm there. I don't have to wait for the people at Xinside to put up a new version. Not that Xinside is bad.. if money can be made off software, I don't blame people for doing so. But for students with limitted budgets and hobbyists with even more limitted budgets, and everyone wanting to tweak their systems, Xinside doesn't meet their needs. Xinside is good for those who want a system that comes up out of the box.. Windows 95, OS/2, etc, all meet these same needs. And as the students/hobbyists of the world, we have the talents and the skills and the dedication to reverse engineer just about any software out there. I think that I could figure out the spec in less than 9 months.. which was someone else's figure. I am also sure that if many people were working on different sections of this, communicating over the net, that we would have a much better chance of seeing this with in even shorter timeframe.