XFree86

Maintainer:	The XFree86 Project, Inc.™
Stable release:	4.6.0  (May 10, 2006) [+/-]
Preview release:	CVS  (current) [+/-]
OS:	multiple
Use:	Windowing system
License:	XFree86 License 1.1
Website:	www.xfree86.org

XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System . It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and is now available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the XFree86 License version 1.1. It is developed by the XFree86 Project, Inc.; the lead developer is David Dawes. The current version is 4.6.0. Image File history File links Xfree86. ... In software engineering, software maintenance is the process of enhancing and optimizing deployed software (software release), as well as remedying defects. ... A software release refers to the creation and availability of a new version of a computer software product. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A software release refers to the creation and availability of a new version of a computer software product. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A windowing system is a graphical user interface (GUI) which uses the window as one of its primary metaphors. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... Website - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... KDE 3. ... A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... One of the first PCs from IBM - the IBM PC model 5150. ... This article is about free software as defined by the sociopolitical free software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ... Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... David Dawes (3 December 1964 - ) is one of the founders of the XFree86 project. ...

For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, the project was the source of most innovation in X and was the de facto steward of X development. Until early 2004, it was almost universal on Linux and the BSDs. See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the very late 1980s and from 2000 and beyond. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a Unix-like computer operating system. ... Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD, sometimes called Berkeley Unix) is the Unix derivative distributed by the University of California, Berkeley starting in the 1970s. ...

In February 2004, with version 4.4.0, The XFree86 Project adopted a license change that the Free Software Foundation considered GPL incompatible. Most Linux distributions found the potential GPL legal issues unacceptable and made plans to move to a fork from before the license change. At first there were multiple forks, but the X.Org fork soon took over as the dominant one. Most of the developers who were already annoyed at other issues in the project also moved to X.org. The Free Software Foundation logo The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ... The GNU logo Wikisource has original text related to this article: GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... A Linux distribution is a Unix-like operating system comprising the Linux kernel and other assorted free software/open-source software, and possibly proprietary software. ... The XOrg Foundation Open Source Public Implementation of X11 (the XOrg Server) is the official reference implementation of the X Window System. ...

Architecture

XFree86 consists of client libraries used to write X applications ("clients"), and an X server responsible for the display. Clients and servers communicate via the X protocol, which allows them to run on different computers. Illustration of an application which may use libvorbisfile. ...

The XFree86 server communicates with the host operating system's kernel to drive input and output devices, with the exception of graphics cards. These are generally managed directly by XFree86, so it includes its own drivers for all graphic cards a user might have. Some cards are supported by vendors themselves via binary-only drivers. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The kernel is the central part in most computer operating systems because of its task, which is the management of the systems resources and the communication between hardware and software components. ... A graphics/video/display card/board/adapter is a computer component designed to convert the logical representation of visual information into a signal that can be used as input for a display medium. ...

Since version 4.0, XFree86 has supported (some) accelerated 3D graphics cards via the GLX and DRI extensions. GLX (acronym for OpenGL Extension to the X Window System) provides the glue connecting OpenGL and the X Window System: it enables OpenGL programs to draw to a window of the X Window System. ... In computing, the Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI) is an interface used in the X Window System to securely allow user applications to access the video hardware without requiring data to be passed through the X Server. ...

Because the server usually needs low level access to graphics hardware, on many configurations it needs to run as the superuser, or a user with UID 0. However, on some systems and configurations it is possible to run the server as a normal user. On many computer operating systems, superuser is the term used for the special user account that is controlled by the system administrator. ... UID refers to: User IDentification in computing User identifier (Unix) (See also: UGID) Unique IDentifier, the PubMed search field tag used in finding life sciences and biomedical scientific journal article citations. ...

It is also possible to use XFree86 in a framebuffer device, which in turn uses a kernel graphics card driver. The Linux framebuffer (fbdev) is a graphic hardware-independent abstraction layer to show graphics on a console without relying on system-specific libraries such as svgalib or the heavy overhead of the X Window System. ...

On a typical POSIX-system, the directory /etc/X11 includes the configuration files. The basic configuration file is /etc/X11/XF86Config (or XF86Config-4) that includes variables about the screen (monitor), keyboard and graphics card. The program xf86config is often used, although xf86cfg also comes with the XFree86 server and is certainly friendlier. Many Linux distributions used to include a configuration tool that was easier to use (such as Debian's debconf) or autodetected most (if not all) settings (Red Hat Linux and Fedora Core's Anaconda, SuSE's YaST and Mandrake Linux used to choose this path). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The term screen has a number of meanings: A window screen is a wire mesh that covers a window opening to keep out insects even when the window is open. ... A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. ... A graphics/video/display card/board/adapter is a computer component designed to convert the logical representation of visual information into a signal that can be used as input for a display medium. ... Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a Unix-like computer operating system. ... Debian, organized by the Debian Project, is a widely used distribution of free software developed through the collaboration of volunteers from around the world. ... Red Hat Linux was one of the most popular Linux distributions, assembled by Red Hat. ... Fedora Core is an RPM-based Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project, sponsored by Red Hat. ... Categories: Computer stubs ... SUSE (properly pronounced , but often pronounced /suzi/) is a major retail Linux distribution, produced in Germany. ... YaST from SUSE 9. ... Mandrakelinux (formerly Mandrake Linux) is a Linux distribution created by Mandrakesoft. ...

History

Early history and naming

The project began in 1992 when David Wexelblat, Glenn Lai, David Dawes and Jim Tsillas joined forces addressing bugs in the X11 X386 source code (written by Thomas Roell), as contributed to X11R5. This version was initially called X386 1.2E. As newer versions of the (originally freeware) X386 were being sold under a proprietary software license by SGCS (of which Roell was a partner), confusion existed between the projects. After discussion, the project was renamed XFree86, as a pun (compare X-three-eighty-six to X-free-eighty-six). Roell has continued to sell proprietary X servers, most recently under the name Accelerated-X. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... David Dawes (3 December 1964 - ) is one of the founders of the XFree86 project. ... Proprietary software is software that has restrictions on using and copying it, usually enforced by a proprietor. ... Accelerated-X is a port of the X Window System to Intel x86 machines. ...

Rise with Linux

As Linux grew in popularity, XFree86 rose with it, as the main X project with drivers for PC video cards. Linux (also known as GNU/Linux) is a Unix-like computer operating system. ...

By the late 1990s, official X development was moribund [1]. Most technical advancement was happening in the XFree86 project. In 1999, XFree86 was sponsored onto X.Org (the official industry consortium) by various hardware companies [2] interested in its use with Linux and its status as the most popular version of X. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

2003: dissent within the project

By 2003, while Linux's popularity, and hence the installed base of X, surged, X.Org was all but inactive [3] and active development was largely carried out by XFree86. However, there was considerable dissent within XFree86. It was perceived as far too cathedral-like in its development model; developers were unable to get CVS commit access [4] and vendors had to maintain extensive patches [5]. In March, long-term contributor Keith Packard was ejected from the Core Team with considerable ill-feeling [6] [7] [8]. The Core Team claimed this was for conspiracy: Keith had been trying to fork the XFree86 project, working inside the project, while trying to attract core developers to a new X Server project of his own making. Packard denied this had been his aim. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Cathedral and the Bazaar (abbreviated CatB) is an essay by Eric S. Raymond on software engineering methods, based on his observations of the Linux kernel development process and his experiences managing an open source project, fetchmail. ... The Concurrent Versions System (CVS), also known as the Concurrent Versioning System, implements a version control system: it keeps track of all work and all changes in a set of files, typically the implementation of a software project, and allows several (potentially widely separated) developers to collaborate. ... In computing, a patch is a small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program. ... Keith Packard is a software developer, best known for his work on the X Window System. ...

Disbanding of the Core Team

XFree86 used to have a Core Team which was made up of experienced developers, selected for their merits. Due to limited innovation capacity the XFree86 Core Team voted to disband itself, on December 30, 2003, effective the following day. December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Licensing controversy

Versions of XFree86 up to and including some release candidates for 4.4.0 were under the MIT X11 license, a permissive non-copyleft free software license. XFree86 4.4 was released in February 2004 with a change to the license [9]: the addition of an advertising clause, similar to that in the old version of the BSD license. Some hypothesised this was in response to the announcement of the Xouvert fork, to ensure that any fork of XFree86 would have to notably credit XFree86. ... The reversed c is the copyleft symbol. ... The BSD license is a permissive license and is one of the most widely used free software licenses. ... In software, a project fork or branch happens when a developer (or a group of them) takes code from a project and starts to develop independently of the rest. ...

Many projects relying on X found the new license unacceptable [10] — the Free Software Foundation in particular as they held it to be incompatible with the GNU General Public License [11] (although XFree86 disagreed), and others simply did not wish for any code incorporated to be any further restricted than it already was. Some projects, such as OpenBSD, forked XFree86 from version 4.4 RC2, the last version under the old license. (OpenBSD later adopted the X.Org Server [12].) The Free Software Foundation logo The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ... The GNU logo Wikisource has original text related to this article: GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... OpenBSD is a freely available Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative created at the University of California, Berkeley. ... The XOrg Foundation Open Source Public Implementation of X11 (the XOrg Server) is the official reference implementation of the X Window System. ...

Currently, NetBSD still uses XFree86 as its default X server, heavily customised for the operating system's wide cross-platform support, although it plans to migrate to the modular X.Org after the next release. FreeBSD uses the X.org server and provides XFree86 as an alternative X server. Debian Sarge (the current stable branch of that distribution) still uses a pre-split version of XFree86 but its successor Etch will come with Xorg. Apple Computer also ships an XFree86-based rootless X server with Mac OS X. No other major operating system or Linux distribution currently ships with XFree86 by default. NetBSD is a freely redistributable, open source version of the Unix-like BSD computer operating system. ... FreeBSD is a Unix-like free operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch through 386BSD and 4. ... Apple Computer, Inc. ... Mac OS X (officially pronounced Mac Oh-Ess Ten) is a line of proprietary, graphical operating systems developed, sold, and marketed by Apple Computer, the latest of which is included with all currently shipping Macintosh computers. ...

Forks of XFree86

Xouvert

An experimental branch of the XFree86 server code, Xouvert (Xopen in French), was announced in late 2003, but showed no activity after early 2004.

The XOrg Foundation Open Source Public Implementation of X11

The X.Org Server is the official reference implementation of X11, produced by X.Org. The first version, X11R6.7.0, was a fork from XFree86 version 4.4 RC2, with X11R6.6 changes merged in. Version X11R6.8 added many new extensions, drivers and fixes. It is not encumbered by the XFree86 license changes. It is hosted by and works closely with freedesktop.org. The XOrg Foundation Open Source Public Implementation of X11 (the XOrg Server) is the official reference implementation of the X Window System. ... The X.Org logo The X.Org Foundation is the consortium holding the stewardship for the development of the X Window System. ... In software, a project fork or branch happens when a developer (or a group of them) takes code from a project and starts to develop independently of the rest. ... freedesktop. ...

Most of the open-source Unix-like operating systems have adopted the X.Org Server in place of XFree86, and most of the XFree86 developers moved to X.Org [13].

Release history

This article is about the year. ... KDE 3. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the X Window System, XFree86 Acceleration Architecture (XAA) is a driver architecture to make a video cards 2D hardware acceleration available to the X server. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Xrender (aka X Rendering Extension) introduces digital image composition as the foundation of a new rendering model within the X Window System. ... December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

Free software Portal

• DirectFB
• XFree86 logfile
• XFree86 Modeline
• XF86Config

Image File history File links Portal. ... DirectFB is a software library for the GNU/Linux operating system that provides hardware graphics acceleration, input device handling and abstraction, integrated windowing system with support for translucent windows and multiple display layers on top of the Linux Framebuffer Device. ... The XFree86 logfile is a text file, written by the XFree86 program, and designed to be useful for people who are trying to diagnose problems they are having with getting XFree86 to work. ... A Modeline is a configuration line in the XFree86 configuration file (XF86Config) that provides information to the X server about a connected computer monitor and how to drive it at a specified display resolution. ... The configuration file XF86Config of the X Window System is used by the X server to set necessary configuration parameters. ...

References

• The means to an X for Linux: an interview with David Dawes from XFree86.org (Matthew Arnison, June 1999)
• X Marks the Spot: Looking back at X11 Developments of Past Year (Oscar Boykin, OSNews 25 February 2004) — the licensing controversy and forks
• The History of XFree86: Over a Decade of Development (Michael J. Hammel, Linux Magazine, December 2001)
• Some perspective from the cheap seats ... (David Wexelblat, 20 March 2003) — on why Keith Packard was sacked from the core team
• A Call For Open Governance Of X Development (Keith Packard, 21 March 2003)
• XFree86 dust-up questions X11 model (Andrew Orlowski, The Register, 21 March 2003)
• The Cautionary Tale of XFree86 (from Make Your Open Source Software GPL-Compatible. Or Else. by David A. Wheeler, 16 February 2005)

February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: People stubs | 1965 births | Wikipedians with article ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Project home page
• Sample XFree86 configuration files

	Preceding:	X Windowing System
	Subsequent:	Xouvert, X.Org