Xserver 1.5 (prerelease)

Summary

The X server in F9 will be updated to a 1.5 pre-release.

Owner

Name: AdamJackson, KristianHoegsberg, DaveAirlie

Current status

Targeted release: Fedora 9
Last updated: 2008-04-11
Percentage of completion: 100%

Adam posted his 7.4 release plan: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2008-February/033195.html

7.4 release process is more or less slaved to Fedora 9 schedule at this point. Stabilisation is proceeding well.

Detailed Description

Numerous changes are planned, some of them might not land and almost all of them are currently works in progress. A partial list of projects includes:

Input hotplug support
New PCI setup infrastructure
Revamped DRI, allowing redirected GLX to work correctly
Faster server startup, see OneSecondX for details
Support (in at least some drivers) for kernel-based modesetting

These features are testable, although some bugs remain in the beta.

Benefit to Fedora

Moving input and output configuration to runtime services, via the XINPUT and RANDR extensions, enables the system to dynamically recognize and attach devices on the fly, and gives the user the ability to configure the display without resorting to editing configuration files by hand.

Fixing the DRI enables the 3D composited desktop to work out of the box and without caveats.

Kernel-based modesetting enables us to do blinkless transitions from kernel to rhgb (or moral equivalent) to gdm to user session.

Other items documented in their subfeature pages.

Scope

Very little required by way of Fedora packaging changes. The transition plan is still not formalized, in particular we may want a configuration migration tool.

Test Plan

The usual broad suite of hardware in our test pile, combined with end-user feedback. Better suggestions welcomed here.

Dependencies

Input hotplug introduces dependencies on hal and dbus. These are mostly stable by now, but it's something to watch for since it's a new requirement.

Contingency Plan

Input hotplug still looks a little sketchy for keyboard support. Can be reverted trivially.

DRI2 and kernel-based modesetting work in the Intel driver requires an opt-in.

Documentation

None yet.

Release Notes