Re: Why use a font server?
On Mit, 2002-02-06 at 19:37, Morten Brix Pedersen wrote:
> The default for XFree in Debian is to use a font server. My question is
> why?
>
> I'm not an expert or anything, but I read somewhere that font servers
> were good to remove the load from many machines; that is - if many
> machines used the same font server.
>
> I believe most people who use XFree on Debian use it on single-user
> systems, and the font server is only another hurdle to setup.
>
> The first thing I do when I have installed XFree4, is to comment out the
> font server, remove it and load the freetype module. This gives me great
> support for TrueType fonts and I only need to concentrate on
> XF86Config-4 when setting up this machine.
The font servers also support TrueType fonts, and setting them up is
very easy, I imagine the default configuration works for most people.
> Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I have wondered about this for a long time.
>
> There may be other advantages with font servers which I have
> overlooked.
Yes. :) Several X servers on the same machine can use a single font
server. And when using a font server, the X server doesn't block while
rasterizing fonts. Just to name a few.
--
Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer
XFree86 and DRI project member / CS student, Free Software enthusiast
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