diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml index 8f08da3c19..f3cb19595a 100644 --- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml +++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml @@ -7176,13 +7176,13 @@ options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging - Which X servers are available for &os;? + Which X implementations are available for &os;? - In the past, if you wanted to run X on &os;, you were - basically restricted to running an X implementation called + Historically, the default implementation of X on + &os; has been &xfree86; which is maintained by The XFree86 Project, Inc. This software was installed by default on @@ -7192,48 +7192,105 @@ options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging platform, as it had suffered greatly from bitrot over the years. - However, early in 2004, the XFree86 Project split + 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 (XFree86 version 4.3.99.903), incorporated many changes that had previously been maintained separately, and has released that software as X11R6.7.0. A separate but related project, freedesktop.org (or fd.o 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. - 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 + As of July 2004, in &os.current;, + &xfree86; has been replaced with x.org as the default + implementation. The &xfree86; ports (x11/XFree86-4 and - subports) will remain in the ports collection and be supported - as developer interest permits. + subports) remain in the ports collection and are still + the default for &os.stable;. + + + 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 + /usr/ports/UPDATING. + It is not currently possible to mix-and-match pieces of each implementation; - work is under way to correct this problem. + one must choose one or the other. - The following paragraphs refer to the existing + 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 xorg.conf, it will search for XF86Config if it cannot find it. + + + Will my existing applications run with the X.org suite? + + + + 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 + (XIE, PEX, and + lbxproxy), but in the first two cases, the + &os; port of &xfree86; did not support them either. + + + + + + Why did the X projects split, anyway? + + + + 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. + + + + + + Why did &os; choose to go with the X.org ports by default? + + + + 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. + + + This decision is still controversial. Only time will + tell which implementation proves technically superior. Each + &os; user should decide which they prefer. + + + + I want to run X, how do I go about it?