On Sat, Apr 02, 2016 at 09:23:33AM +0200, Matthieu Herrb wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I think the section 4.6 of the FAQ about X sets is a bit
> wrong/misleading.
>
> First the straight fact: there is no font servver in xfontXX.tgz
> (patch below)
>
> Then I think the explanation on why X sets are sometimes needed could
> be improved, but I failed to come up with a patch. Here are my
> tentative explanations, let's see if others can put it into shape:
>
> - some libraries in xbase can be used outside of X (freetype,
> fontconfig) for applications that manipulate text or graphics
> (rrdtool is a good example). These applications will generally also
> need fonts, either from xfontXX.tgx or from other font packages.
> - xbaseXX requires xshareXX.
> - xservXX can almost always be skipped if you don't plan to run X.
>
> In the past we've rejected the idea of creating a smaller xbaseXX set
> with only the minimal libs/utilities needed by most non X ports for
> the sake of simplicity.
>
Thanks a lot for your input. What do you think of this?
Index: faq4.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/www/faq/faq4.html,v
retrieving revision 1.444
diff -u -p -r1.444 faq4.html
--- faq4.html 2 Apr 2016 06:00:56 -0000 1.444
+++ faq4.html 2 Apr 2016 07:50:52 -0000
@@ -384,9 +384,9 @@ New users are recommended to install all
<li><b><tt>gameXX.tgz</tt></b>
- text-based games
<li><b><tt>xbaseXX.tgz</tt></b>
- - the base libraries and utilities for X11
+ - the base libraries and utilities for X11 (requires <tt>xshareXX.tgz</tt>)
<li><b><tt>xfontXX.tgz</tt></b>
- - X11's font server and fonts
+ - X11's fonts
<li><b><tt>xservXX.tgz</tt></b>
- X11's X servers
<li><b><tt>xshareXX.tgz</tt></b>
@@ -396,25 +396,15 @@ New users are recommended to install all
<h3 id="FilesNeededX">Why do I have to install X for my non-graphical
application?</h3>
-Even if you have no intention of running X, many third party
-<a href="faq15.html">packages</a> require the libraries or other
-utilities in X to be installed on your system.
-These applications can sometimes be satisfied simply by installing
-just <tt>xbaseXX.tgz</tt> - the rest of X is not always needed.
-Many people who resist installing X on their system don't have a valid reason:
-
-<ul>
-<li>By itself, installing X does not cause any program to
-execute on the system.
-<li>By itself, installing X on a system does not change the
-risk of external security issues.
-<li>If someone is already ON your system, they can most likely install
-whatever they wish, so the presence or absence of the X
-does not appreciably change the situation.
-<li>The only parts of X that are running are the parts
-required by your application.
-<li>The space required for X is relatively modest on modern hardware.
-</ul>
+Some libraries from <tt>xbaseXX.tgz</tt> like freetype or fontconfig can be
+used outside of X by programs that manipulate text or graphics.
+The <tt>net/<a href="http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/";>rrdtool</a></tt> port is a
+good example.
+In the past there were discussions of providing a smaller <tt>xbaseXX.tgz</tt>
+set that would allow most non-X ports to run.
+The idea was rejected for the sake of simplicity.
+The <tt>xservXX.tgz</tt> set can almost always be skipped if you don't intend
+to run X.
<h3 id="FilesNeededComp">I don't want to install the compilers</h3>
