The thing is, a unified device-configuring front-end would be better than having every driver writer roll their own. (I mean, we can follow Windows if we want, but why incur development risk by developing what essentially is several versions of the same thing?)
Windows does it the way it does for a reason (the "Advanced" button on the display prefs GUI)
You will never be able to create a GUI that covers everything that is configurable across a wide variety of vendor products... nor should you try.
Not true. Look at the limited vocabulary you presently have in XF86Config: keywords, list-of-values, integers, bools. Bools map to radio buttons, integers can have spin buttons, list of values are combos. Where's the problem? That the unified code doesn't know what parameters each driver support? That's the purpose of the metadata, so the driver can tell it.
You're thinking of Window-dom: because the vendors HAVE to write something, they'd rather write something that distinguishes their product over another vendor. Improves the user experience. Puts up logos, and help screens, and shadowed widgets and whatever...
If a vendor legimately thinks of a new/better way to describe a certain parameter, I'm more apt to accept a patch from them to implement new metadata/widgets than I'd want to see another binary on the system that can talk to/configure devices on my X system.
Now, as to anyone who say, "eww, it's Gtk," or "it's Qt," or "I hate Tk", I have only one thing to say to them: Athena Widgets.
I would advocate a config system that has a basic set of well known parameters. Width, Height, Depth ... maybe muti-display details too. And everything else is left up to the Vendor to implement in their own config program.
Same danger. You are writing to someone who's running as root (X). Big security concern. The less often you do it (e.g., one binary instead of every vendor rolling their own binaries) the more you can concentrate on making sure that binary is secure in terms of exploits.
-- ____ .:. ____ Bryan W. Headley - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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