Re: Xorg vs Wayland (and MIR?) - future for NetBSD X ?

[Mouse <mouse%Rodents-Montreal.ORG@localhost>]

Some thoughts from someone who has done X hackery in the past, but has
felt shoved to the margin by the directions X is going....

> * How do weird X11 framebuffer code for off-the-wall platforms get
>    built?  I'm thinking of things like Amiga's with RetinaZ3 boards.
>    How is it that these wizards-in-caves can be coaxed out for that,
>    but for x86 we have to beg for a seat at the table with Linux and
>    Microsoft?

Well, as someone who's done two ddx layers (MouseX, X for 2bpp NeXT
hardware, and a cgfourteen ddx that supports both 8bpp and 24bpp on the
same screen), my answer is twofold: (1) "because the off-the-wall
platforms have documented video hardware" and (2) "because for x86 you
care about running the same X Linux does".

"Modern" X has lost a lot of what gave its roots such staying power.
For example, it appears to no longer care about anything but 24bpp
TrueColor hardware.  It cares so much about x86 that it's willing to
impose braindamage driven by the x86 video disaster on completely
non-x86 machines (I saw SPARC servers doing sbus enumeration in
userland, apparently because x86 braindamage makes it want/need to do
PCI enumeration in userland on x86).

>    I'm just ignorant of these dynamics.

I'm ignorant of (most of) the politics, too.

>    I'm assuming it's because those older framebuffers are more
>    simplistic or better documented.

Partly.  But, also, the demands placed on them are lower.  For example,
on x86 people castigate you if your server can't use undocumented 3D
rendering hardware via vendor binary blobs.  You don't get that on
sparc or amiga or vax or etc.

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