Now that the default X server for -CURRENT is the xorg server, add this

to the FAQ, as well as a pointer to the instructions for overrding this
default if you don't want to switch (or, making the switch if you're on
-STABLE; same set of instructions).

While here, try to answer various user complaints about the text that I
orginally wrote about the switch being both 'too political' and at the
same time 'too vague'.

I do not believe the rewording will satisfy all concerns, but if you
have them, please send them to me off-list.

Glanced at by:	simon
This commit is contained in:
Mark Linimon 2004-07-25 01:08:18 +00:00
parent e52776101d
commit 19b57dd56c
Notes: svn2git 2020-12-08 03:00:23 +00:00
svn path=/head/; revision=21675

View file

@ -7176,13 +7176,13 @@ options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging</programlisting>
<qandaentry>
<question id="which-X">
<para>Which X servers are available for &os;?</para>
<para>Which X implementations are available for &os;?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>In the past, if you wanted to run X on &os;, you were
basically restricted to running an X implementation called
<para>Historically, the default implementation of X on
&os; has been
&xfree86; which is maintained by
<ulink url="http://www.xfree86.org">The XFree86 Project,
Inc.</ulink> This software was installed by default on
@ -7192,48 +7192,105 @@ options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging</programlisting>
platform, as it had suffered greatly from bitrot over
the years.</para>
<para>However, early in 2004, the XFree86 Project split
<para>However, early in 2004, some XFree86 developers left
that project
over issues including the pace of code changes, future
directions, and a licensing change. X.org updated its
source tree to the last &xfree86; release before the
directions, and interpersonal conflicts, and are now contributing
code directly to X.org instead. At that time, X.org updated its
source tree to the last &xfree86; release before its subsequent
licensing change (<application>XFree86 version 4.3.99.903</application>), incorporated
many changes that had previously been maintained separately,
and has released that software as <application>X11R6.7.0</application>. A separate but
related project, <ulink url="http://www.freedesktop.org">
freedesktop.org</ulink> (or <literal>fd.o</literal> for short),
is working on rearchitecting the original &xfree86; code to
reflect modern graphics card technology (with the goal of
greatly increased performance) and modern software practices
offload more work onto the graphics cards (with the goal of
increased performance) and make it more modular
(with the goal of incresed maintainability, and thus faster
releases as well as easier configuration). X.org intends to
incorporate the freedesktop.org changes in its future releases.</para>
<para>The current technology roadmap for &os; includes
replacing &xfree86; with freedesktop.org as the default server sometime
later in 2004 under the assumption that the pace of its
development will more closely match that of &os; itself.
The &xfree86; ports
<para>As of July 2004, in &os.current;,
&xfree86; has been replaced with x.org as the default
implementation. The &xfree86; ports
(<filename role="package">x11/XFree86-4</filename> and
subports) will remain in the ports collection and be supported
as developer interest permits.</para>
subports) remain in the ports collection and are still
the default for &os.stable;.</para>
<note>
<para>The above describes the default X implementation installed.
It is still possible to install either implementation by
following the instructions in the entry for 20040723 in
<filename>/usr/ports/UPDATING</filename>.</para>
</note>
<warning>
<para>It is not currently
possible to mix-and-match pieces of each implementation;
work is under way to correct this problem.</para>
one must choose one or the other.</para>
</warning>
<note>
<para>The following paragraphs refer to the existing
<para>The following paragraphs refer to the
&xfree86; implementation, but most should also be applicable
to the freedesktop.org implementation as well. While the default
configuration filename for the freedesktop.org implementation is
to the x.org implementation as well. While the default
configuration filename for the x.org implementation is
<filename>xorg.conf</filename>, it will search for
<filename>XF86Config</filename> if it cannot find it.</para>
</note>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="xorg-compatibility">
<para>Will my existing applications run with the X.org suite?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The X.org software is written to the same X11R6 specification
that &xfree86; is, so basic applications should work
unchanged. A few lesser-used protocols have been deprecated
(<literal>XIE</literal>, <literal>PEX</literal>, and
<literal>lbxproxy</literal>), but in the first two cases, the
&os; port of &xfree86; did not support them either.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="xfree86-split">
<para>Why did the X projects split, anyway?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The answer to this question is outside the scope of
this FAQ. Note that there are voluminous postings in various
mailing list archives on the Internet; please use your favorite
search engine to investigate the history instead of asking this
question on the &os; mailing lists. It may even be the case
that only the participants will ever know for certain.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="why-choose-xorg">
<para>Why did &os; choose to go with the X.org ports by default?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The X.org developers claim that their goal is to release
more often and incorporate new features more quickly. If they
are able to do so, this will be very attractive. Also, their
software still uses the traditional X license, while &xfree86;
is now using their modified one.</para>
<note>
<para>This decision is still controversial. Only time will
tell which implementation proves technically superior. Each
&os; user should decide which they prefer.</para>
</note>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="running-X">
<para>I want to run X, how do I go about it?</para>