From owner-linux-activists@Niksula.hut.fi Tue Apr 27 12:51:40 1993 Received: from joker.cs.hut.fi by niksula.hut.fi id <62084-3>; Tue, 27 Apr 1993 13:28:07 +0300 From: "Linux Activists" To: "Linux-Activists" Reply-To: "Linux-Activists" X-Note1: Remember to put 'X-Mn-Key: 680X0' to your mail body or header Subject: Linux-Activists - 680X0 Channel digest. 93-3-27-4:45 X-Mn-Key: 680X0 Sender: owner-linux-activists@Niksula.hut.fi Message-Id: <93Apr27.132807eet_dst.62084-3@niksula.hut.fi> Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 13:28:04 +0300 Status: RO Topics: Greg Harp speaks... X11 and stuff ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Gregory O. Harp" Subject: Greg Harp speaks... Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 05:41:31 +0300 As you have all probably noticed, I've been a bit scarce lately. I've changed jobs, and my new one is quite a bit more demanding (but fortunately much more enjoyable). If that wasn't enough to take away from my time to read and respond to email, my job involves (among other things) the administration of five Unix boxes and their client machines. I'm working on adding the sixth along with many more clients and I have plans to add three more boxes by the end of the year. Needless to say, logging in to Netcom is not exactly at the top of my list of things to do when I get home, not to mention firing up my A3000 and working on 680x0 Linux. When it comes to choosing between spending time with my SO and working on my computers at home after a long day at work, well, she tends to win. Surprise. ;) I want to publicly apologize to those who have not received responses from me. Very few of you have (mostly those with whom I was in contact before my job change). I will try to get back to a few more of you, but since there are well over a hundred Linux-related messages waiting for me, I can't expect to get to all of them in a timely manner if at all. As for opening up the sources, I'm all for it. Hamish McDonald (hamish@bnr.ca) has been doing the most work on the Amiga end lately, and from my correspondence with him he appears to agree. We need to find an FTP site, though. I'll email the admin of tsx-11.mit.edu and see if he would be willing to grant anon-ftp access to the existing currently-private amiga directory. Those of you who wish to help out on the project will be free to do so once the sources are opened up. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to help coordinate the sources at that point (it's going to be a helluva job, too). I'm glad I was able to help get things started, and I wish I had more time to spend on the project now, but that's life, I guess. I'll have to try to keep up with the goings-on and perhaps I can help out again in the future. Now I'll fade quitely back into obscurity... ;) --Greg ------------------------------ From: arno@usn.nl (Arno Griffioen) Subject: X11 and stuff Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 09:03:17 +0300 David> suitable for running this system for a while yet......) Again it comes David> to the point that it's not really worth it for 16 colours anyway, and David> doing 8 planes (256 colours) this way with AGA will again be taxing the David> memory/blitter bandwidth. Yup.. I guess mono-X will be the best thing to go for at first. David> A few people are very keen on A2024 support in X. This is an excellent David> idea if you have an A2024 monitor, but it's quite a rare item, and I Not too rare here in Europe... David> believe it has been discontinued? If the mono server is done so it can Yup, but the advantage is that it can now be had for around $180 or so.. David> take user supplied settings for the Agnus registers, as I envisage it David> will at the moment, then an A2024 can be used automagically just by David> giving the right numbers. I don't know how the 2024 interacts with David> sprites (I had envisaged using a hardware mouse pointer), but David> providing a software mouse pointer option is not unreasonable, and not David> difficult. As the 2024's screen is built from 4 amiga screens (in 15 Hz refresh mode) it retains all the standard properties of normal Amiga screens including sprites, although it's not used on Amiga UNIX because the sprite is too big and should have the same resolution as the screen on X David> I still think the best option for this is to have a mono server David> supporting the bog standard hardware, and to shop around for a cheap David> 3rd party frame buffer which works in pixelplaned modes to use for David> colour, for people who need it - it wouldn't be hard to do drivers for Yup. Things like the DOMINO (VGA card on adaptor for the Amiga) are perfect for this job.. David> a range of such things, like the ACS board, Firecracker, etc., the David> main problem is testing the software (I ain't going out to buy the David> suckers, and the manufacturers are unlikely to lend them out unless Known problem.. We'll just have to wait until someone who owns such a board decides to write a driver... David> Another thought I had was concerning 3 button mouse support (X thinks David> the world is full of 3 button mice). The Amiga hardware (and even Just use the '2-button == middle button' technique if you don't have a 3-button mouse. Once you get used to it it's not too bad. David> a 2nd mouse for 2-player Lemmings :-)". I believe the A3000UX was David> actually shipped with a 3bm, and I have heard of hacks to turn one Yes a few were shipped with a 3 button mouse, but the majority still had the old 2 button mouse. David> As far as 68040 MMU support goes, it will be highly desirable to have David> this, as well as the FPU emulation system (c.f. 68040.library) - what You bet! The '040 will really give the perfomance a BIG boost... David> 68040 accelerator, which may be handy as a test machine (I can switch David> between 68030/68882 and 68040 from software, although it needs a David> reboot). It is in my personal interest to have 040 support, since the David> speed difference is quite significant, and otherwise I'd be dropping David> back to AmigaDOS to do most of my serious work, reducing Linux to toy David> status. Yup. Linux on an '040 with a nice graphics board for X makes a perfect UNIX machine. On an '030 it's just another Amiga UNIX machine :-( David> Arno - for your records, my machine is an A3000, with the standard David> Commodore built-in SCSI controller. Putting X as my "speciality" is a David> bit generous! I promise nothing for my abilities, but I'll lend a hand David> with anything that needs doing. Don't take the list too serious.. It was just an attempt to try to get a bit of order in the mess I call my mailbox.. I didn't get any mail-bombs or threats, so I guess I didn't discredit anyone in a big way ;-) Keep going! Bye Arno. -- Unix Support Nederland B.V. | Fax: +31-70-3630462 Lange Voorhout 9 | Tel: +31-70-3630462 2514EA Den Haag +-------------+----------------------------------------------- The Netherlands | If a weirdo in a blue suit offers you DOS, just say NO! ------------------------------ End of 680X0 Digest ******************* -------