Re: SVGA kernel chipset drivers.

Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
Mon, 3 Jun 1996 11:49:33 +0300 (EET DST)


> On Sun, 2 Jun 1996, Marcus Meissner wrote:

> > > Maybe this is silly and there exist services that do exactly this, in
> > > userspace, in a safe way, and as fast as a kernel trap. Sorry if so,
> > > but i think many people dont see the way out [the GGI people for
> > > example].
> >
> > You can just use another selector/segment instead of the default
> > datasegment just as WINE does? Ok, will only work on i386 and friends.
> > ... (See modify_ldt system call.)
>
> Which is no good. Linux should be as cross-platform as possible,
> right? Then we need a uniform graphics API.

Are you really that dense?

We HAVE a uniform graphics API already. It's called X.

When you argue for kernel support for graphics, you argue _against_ the already
existing, standard UNIX graphics API that does a hell of a lot more than some
stupid frame buffer.

THAT is why this discussion is so totally useless. You're just asking for the
kernel to support something that is _less_ capable than we already have. Do you
think I'm so stupid that I'd go for something as braindead as that?

Linus