X and Eye Candy

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Mon, Mar 13, 2006 at 05:09:29PM -0500, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> Simply, it's a great demo.
> 
> There is (and will continue to be) a significant part of the
> computer-buying public that likes style over substance.
> Microsoft and Apple know this all too well.
> While it is vital that the bulk of open source development resources go
> to those mundane issues of stability and efficiency, having the gloss
> available is still a useful component in helping FOSS go mainstream.
> Being able to offer style *and* stability *and* freedom is a very
> compelling proposition -- and indeed it is necessary to be compelling
> (rather than just "better") because we are also fighting inertia.
> 
> IOW, it's not for everyone, but it's really really nice for many.
> 
> As for me, I can appreciate having some windows that are very
> transparent, and the cube paradigm seems slightly more useful than the
> current KDE and GNOME panels.
> 
> My Thinkpad (with an onboard Radeon 9600) worked just fine. A second
> attempt to boot on a system with the Centrino Intel onboard video didn't
> succeed. The list is at http://getkororaa.com/releases/xgl/xgl-cards
> 
> As for the need for binary-only drivers, I guess this is another
> potential philosophical fight over the sacrifices in "freedom" people
> will make to get the features they like. Anyone wanting to use a
> built-in laptop modem or Centrino wireless under Linux has already had
> to make that leap. I can respect both POVs.

I thought the intel wireless on the centrino was among the best
supported on linux.  You need a firmware file for the card, but so what,
as long as the driver is open source you can work with it.  The card
once the firmware file is loaded is no different than a card that had an
eeprom with firmware on it.

Len Sorensen
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