On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 the mental interface of Mark L. Kahnt told: > On Sun, 2002-11-17 at 02:26, Rob Weir wrote: > > On Sat, Nov 16, 2002 at 05:20:05AM -0500, Mark L. Kahnt wrote: > > > That said, unless you *really* need any of these and they are compiled > > > in, framebuffer is a re-implementation of text mode in the kernel with > > > slower methods and more overhead, and as such isn't exactly the most > > > useful. Or is this one of those parts of the kernel that got included > > > because some potential 2% of all eventual kernel users might be able to > > > make use of this (similar to the kernel http server) and somebody was > > > able to lobby Linus Torvalds enough to get it past his good judgement? > > > > I think Linus sees it as a necessary evil; non-x86 platforms don't all > > have actual VGA hardware, so you need someway to get a text console and > > fb is it. I remember someone trying to get a patch to improve it (on > > x86) into Linus' tree, and the response was something along the lines of > > 'either use a text-mode VT or use X and be happy', i.e. it's a dirty > > sucky hack that you should avoid if at all possible. > > That doesn't surprise me - it was my understanding of why it was created > in the first place (needed on some non i386 systems,) and that is why it > has stayed experimental in so many ways on i386 type devices. I have to > admit that I'm surprised that it is apparently the default on some > Debian i386-based kernels as a result. > > > > Another interesting point is that the Linux Low-Latency howto says to > > never ever switch VTs or scroll them when using fb if you're trying to > > record any sort of audio, since the fb code disables all interupts on > > your system for some large fraction of a second. > > Most of the system hangs I've had over the past year have come from > using a framebuffer console while X was running, and the console was > scrolling. Never had problems while running my vt's with fbgetty ;-) Ciao Elimar -- Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it!
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