Garrett D'Amore wrote:
> So I confess that I don't understand why X server configuration is
> necessary on SPARC, but not on x86.
I don't think this is really about platform, but about hardware capabilities.
The XVR-2500 on SPARC and the nvidia cards on x86 provide a large number of
customizable options beyond the basics - fbconfig & nvidia-settings provide
configuration for these cards. fbconfig is not from the Xserver group, it's
not an X server configuration tool, it's the frame buffer configuration tool
for certain graphics hardware devices that just happen to be only sold for
SPARC systems.
For historical reasons, they also provide things like monitor resolution
which are now mostly handled elsewhere, such as via xrandr.
> What kind of sacrifices will x86 users have to make, in
> customizability?
They will not be able to configure a SPARC graphics card to work in their
x86 box. Hardly seems like much of a sacrifice. Nothing changes for
x86 from what they have today - this just adds a XVR-2500 configuration
utility for SPARC users.
> Will end users still be able to tweak resolutions
> using the GUI tools?
Certainly - in fact, they have more capability to do so with /usr/X11/bin/xrandr
and the GNOME Desktop Resolution utility than via fbconfig or nvidia-settings,
since xrandr/Desktop Resolution don't require access to write to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf, which should only be writable by root.
--
-Alan Coopersmith- alan.coopersmith at sun.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc. - X Window System Engineering
