Frederic Lepied wrote:
> > Is this being built with the Matrox HALlib for the MGA driver or with
> > init routines supplied by XFree86.org? The reason I'm asking is that if
> > the Matrox library is used then multi-head in X is possible (and can be
> > accelerated with OpenGL). AFAIK, the last time I tried the stock XFree86
> > driver it would not work.
> >
> > The only sad thing is that Matrox won't open the HALlib, but the XFree86
> > guys have merged the supporting code into the tree to allow that to be
> > built in as an option over the default.
> >
> This is built without the HALlib because we don't want to put non open
> source components in the distribution.
Hmm... well, just a few thoughts for you:
There already is non-OSS components in the distribution, notably
Netscape communicator.
I fundementally agree with you around the OSS versus non-OSS issue here,
but there is a little bit of pragmatism involved in this as well.
Basically, your user base is of a more primary concern than a general
cause, there are other ways to push companies into opening their source
without punishing the user with sub-par functionality. Not an issue for
myself, I'll simply stick with the current released X or manually build
it with the library, but a newbie rolling into Linux for the first time
may just as quickly roll back out once they discover that their hardware
doesn't work the way they expected it to.
I want to stress the last point a little bit here... folks like us
prefer to work with Linux because it is open and we can get involved and
help out. On the other hand, many people are beginning to look at Linux
as an alternative to Windows not because it is open, but because it is
reliable, fast, much less expensive, etc. They neither understand nor
care for the cause that GNU is pursuing, though they may benefit from
it. It's a catch 22. We need to support their interest and use it so
that hardware companies see a benefit from supporting Linux. Hardware
companies see a benefit when there are enough people using Linux to
warrant it, but these people won't bother with Linux if they can't get
the functionality expected because of philisophical standoff. Sometimes
you have to bend a little in the beginning to make the long run pay off.
Food for thought.
John
