README for XFree86[tm] 4.2.1 The XFree86 Project, Inc 3 September 2002 Abstract XFree86 is the Open Source port of X.Org's X11R6.6 release that supports several UNIX(R) and UNIX-like (such as Linux, the BSDs and Solaris x86) operating systems on Intel and other platforms. 1. What is XFree86 4.2.1? XFree86 4.2.1 is the first update to 4.2.0, the fifth full release in the XFree86 4 series. Update releases are taken from a stable/maintenance branch. They are designed to be installed on top of the full release that they are updating. They contain fixes for serious problems, most commonly fixes for security issues, fixes for driver bugs, and fixes that improve stability. XFree86 release 4 is a major re-design of the basic architectural underpin- nings of XFree86's implementation of the original X Consortium's X Server. This re-design allows for a modular interaction between the hardware drivers and the XFree86 core X server. With 4.x, upgrades to the X server with new and unsupported hardware can be easily done and installed without undergoing the previous process of rebuilding an X server. All that is required is installing the new driver module and updating the configuration file. The road to XFree86 release 4 began as an architectural concept in mid 1997, with the serious framework being implemented in code the beginning of 1998. There were several snapshots on the road to 4.0 which are now part of the 4.0 base release. Release 4 also included the long-awaited integration of the DRI (Direct Ren- dering Infrastructure). This upgrade into the code base gives XFree86 the abilities of accelerated direct 3-D graphics rendering, used widely in games and other visualization programs. While some driver available in the old 3.3.x release series have not been converted over to the 4.x series, those required for most modern video hard- ware are available. Please check the Driver Status document first to see whether your hardware is supported before upgrading to the 4.x series. Specific release enhancements can be viewed in the Release Notes. The XFree86 version numbering system has had some changes as of the 4.0.2 release. Information about this can be found in the Versions Document. Information about binary distributions and the attendant installation instructions can be found in the Installation Document. Copyright and Licensing information for this release and all XFree86 releases can be found in the License Document. 2. Joining The Team 2.1 Development If you would like to work on the development of XFree86 4, either by helping with the conversion of our older drivers to the new 4.x design, or assisting in the addition of new drivers or platforms to the code base then send a request to join the XFree86 development team . This will give you direct access to the latest XFree86 related development topics and discussions. Include in your note, your name, email address, reason for joining (what you will work on) and, level of expertise (coder, DRI, core, specific driver) and area of interest. 2.2 Documentation If instead your interests are on the Documentation side of the Project, or you want to contribute and are not ready for plunging into the code, you can join the Documentation Team (those hardy souls responsible for the content you are reading :-). Amongst the Doc Team's activities are converting our SGML based documentation into an XML based one and updating and creating technical documentation used by staff and public. If this sounds interesting then please send a request to join the XFree86 documentation team . Include in your note, you name, email address, reason for joining (what you will work on) and level of expertise and whether you are interested in the tools or content side of the group. 3. The Public Mailing Lists 3.1 Newbie For those who are new to XFree86 and want to learn more about our Project we recommend that you join our Newbie list, located at Public Mailing Lists , where this and other discus- sions occur with our senior all-volunteer staff. This is great forum to get introduced to XFree86 and ask for help on how to set up the XServer or whether your hardware is supported, and why not?, and make suggestions for future releases of XFree86. This list is supported by our volunteer staff who needs to know how you are using and interacting with XFree86 and what is wrong and could be better. Tell them, they want to know! 3.2 Announce For those who just want to know the release schedule this is a good list to join. 3.3 CVS Commit For those who want to see what has been committed recently to our CVS reposi- tory this is the list that will show you those updates. This list is updated dynamically every time the repository is updated after the the commit hap- pens. 3.4 Xpert If instead you are the lone developer who is improving XFree86 on an ad hoc basis for your particular environment (I want to get my mouse or video card to work), and need a specific question asked then you should go over to our Xpert list where such questions are raised and answered by our technical development staff. Remember you do not have to be a member to write fixes to our code base and if your changes are discrete and self-contained the volume of developer mail may just be too noisy. Once your work is finished (coded, debugged and documented) please send your fix to . This will ensure that they are included in future releases. And thanks! You make this truly an Open group. 4. How to get XFree86 4.2.1 XFree86 4.2.1 can be found at the XFree86 ftp server , and at mirrors of this server. Information about obtaining and installing binary distributions of this release can be found in the Installation Document. Information about obtaining the release in source form is given below. The source for version 4.2.1 is available as a patch relative to 4.2.0. The patch file is 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz. The patch should be applied to a clean 4.2.0 source tree, working from the directory containing the xc/ directory. The patch should be applied by run- ning: gzip -d < 4.2.0-4.2.1.diff.gz | patch -p0 -E Information about getting the source for 4.2.0 can be found in the README file for that version, which can be found on the XFree86 web site . The XFree86 source code can also be accessed via the XFree86 CVS repository. Information about accessing this can be found at the CVS page on our web site. It's also possible to browse the XFree86 CVS repository at our CVSWeb server . 5. Reporting Bugs Bugs should be reported to . Before reporting bugs, please check the X server log file, which can be found at /var/log/XFree86.0.log on most platforms. If you can't resolve the problem yourself, send the entire log file with your bug report but not the operating system core dump. Do not edit the log file as our developers use it to reproduce and debug your problem. Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/README.sgml,v 3.119.2.1 2002/09/04 03:01:48 dawes Exp $