Re:Xorg being removed. What does this mean?
by jrockway on Thursday December 14, 2023 @10:22AM
(#38642316)
> This dance took about a second to complete
What's really weird about reading this is that I can hear, in the back of my mind, the sound my CRT makes while doing this switch. But I have no memory of ever switching from X -> virtual console since LCDs were a thing. I guess... that's when X stopped crashing routinely? Weird stuff!
(Also, am I crazy or is there also a smell associated with this operation? I swear I remember something like that. When the mode switches, the monitor degausses itself, and then there is a faint smell of ozone? Computers used to be weird!)
Re:Xorg being removed. What does this mean?
by shermantanktop on Thursday December 14, 2023 @10:50AM
(#38642653)
Me too! It sounded like something was being done to the monitor that it did not enjoy at all.
Re:Xorg being removed. What does this mean?
by petre on Thursday December 14, 2023 @12:01PM
(#38643708)
Entering hyperspace in 3…2…1… [high frequency sound]
Re:Xorg being removed. What does this mean?
by tremon on Thursday December 14, 2023 @09:05AM
(#38641429)
kdrive is this alternative X server, I suspect: https://www.irif.fr/~jch/software/kdrive.html
And, uh `kdrive`, which renders to... um... something or other.
Edit: Also, while Linux now has Atomic ModeSetting and the Direct Rendering Manager APIs, for a lot of Xorg/Xfree86's history it didn't, and the X server did a lot more direct manipulation of the display hardware than it does now. Switching virtual consoles between X consoles and Linux terminal consoles used to be a weird dance between Xorg in userspace and the kernel to make sure that the hardware handoff between them didn't mess up. This dance took about a second to complete (which is forever in CPU time) rather than being the instantaneous sort of switch it is now. But even now, with DRM and the other stuff, Xorg still does a lot of talking directly to the hardware.