Re: X server crash.
In a message dated 5/7/99 8:08:40 AM Central Daylight Time,
c680789@showme.missouri.edu writes:
> > If X can detect that you don't have any valid modes, it obviously can
make
> > some decisions on what settings are valid for your card - so, why can't
X
> > just set the values for you?
>
> No idea why it can't. The whole purpose of xf86config is to configure
> system the way you want, if you can. It is not much extra work to change a
> mode from 1280x1024 to something smaller, if X can not run in that mode
> (which still remains a mystery for me, why on my old monitor X refused to
> run in 1280x1024 mode, even though it said it was able to. It was 14"
> anyway, so nothing above 1024x768 did no good, but still interesting).
> If we make X 'guess' what modes to run, we will be on the way to making X
> some kind of MS product, where it is "Here is what I can do, take it or
> leave it". On the same note, why not have X autodetect the card and set
> up all the settings, so an average Joe can go and buy RH CD and brag about
> having installed Linux on his computer.
> There is some need for user-friendliness, true. But why make everything
> too easy? The easier software is to use , the bulkier it is. What would
> you rather have, a super user-friendly program that is slow and bulky, or
> an efficient fast program, which is a bit complex to confiigure?
>
Don't take this in any way personally, but ... horsehockey. :)
Having X detect all the valid modes doesn't mean that you lose the ability to
choose what's best for you, nor does it mean that we are that much closer to
cloning Windows. What it does mean is that for those of us (like myself)
that buy old, used monitors and simply can't find any documentation, X can
make some educated guesses as to what modes are valid for a given system. It
also means that newbies don't have to mess with modelines during installation
if they don't want to; they can always learn about them later.
My thought was that X could detect all possible modes, then write them out to
the config file - then give the user the chance to decide what options they
would like to make default options. xf86config does this somewhat, after you
give it the settings for your card, it asks you what order you'd like the
modes to be in. And if program size is an issue - why not create a separate
app that'll do this instead?
I certainly would hope that making things easier to use doesn't necessarily
mean that those of you that enjoy writing modelines no longer have that
capability - it just provides some intuitiveness for those of us that don't
like writing mode lines.
-Jay
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