[Brainstorm] LinkKit for Xorg

[Joel Feiner]

Paulo � wrote:
> R�mi Cardona wrote:
>> Le 10/01/2009 03:10, Paulo C�sar Pereira de Andrade a �crit :
>>>     Xorg (and to some extent XFree86) loadable modules
>>> aren't really of much use, as modules cannot be properly
>>> unloaded, there is no dependency information; a module
>>> doesn't list it's dependencies in any form, causing
>>> frequently one to need to load a lot more code/data
>>> then required.
>> Hi Paulo,
>
>    Hi R�mi,
>
>> Why not implement that instead? Sounds like reviving LinkKit will bring
>> more cruft rather than clean up the current code...
>
>    The amount of work for either should be similar, just that if
> you have a "closed binary", it must have all symbols resolved.
> The "cool" thing about loadable modules would be to be able to
> switch/disable/enable input/video/etc modules on the fly, but this
> is not a reality, and requires restarting the X Server anyway...
>

I know I might get dogpiled for this, but why does it necessarily have 
to require an X server restart?  Right now, for example, VT switches 
seem pretty close to having an X server restart (at least for some parts 
of it).  It certainly would be nice to be able to update drivers and 
other bits without having to restart X, in much the same way that it 
would be nice to be able to update the kernel without restarting it. 
Other benefits could include the ability to detach/reattach/move X 
servers like you can do with screen and twin.

I am not signing myself up to do this ;)

>> What's your ulterior motives with LinkKit anyway? Just curious :)
>
>    None really, but maybe someone that worked on it is reading
> the lists and could also comment, or maybe some vague memory
> of transforming an "unusable" computer in one that could even
> run emacs (I used to use emacs to edit sources, read email,
> compile, debug, etc) :-)
>    I just cited it because it used the concept I was thinking about,
> http://www.xfree.org/3.3.6/LinkKit1.html.
>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> R�mi
>
> Paulo
>
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