The svgalib development FAQ <author>Brion Vibber, <tt><htmlurl name="brion@pobox.com" url="mailto:brion@pobox.com"></tt> <date>v1.1, 13 July 1998 <abstract> This document is intended to explain what is happening in the world of svgalib development. The most recent version of this document can be found at <tt><htmlurl name="http://pobox.com/~brion/linux/svgalib-dev-faq.html" url="http://pobox.com/~brion/linux/svgalib-dev-faq.html"></tt>. </abstract> <toc> <sect>Introduction<label id="intro"> This FAQ was created to provide a definitive source of information regarding the ongoing development of the Linux Super VGA Library, svgalib. This is not a general document about svgalib, nor a document about how to develop programs that use svgalib, but rather is concerned only with issues related to the development of the library itself and obtaining current versions of the library. The most recent version of this document can be found at <tt><htmlurl name="http://pobox.com/~brion/linux/svgalib-dev-faq.html" url="http://pobox.com/~brion/linux/svgalib-dev-faq.html"></tt>. <sect1>Document History<label id="hist"> v1.1, 13 July 1998: Updated for svgalib 1.3.0 release. v1.01, 3 July 1998: Updated URL for wheel mouse patch, some other minor modifications. v1.0, 2 July 1998: First version unleashed upon the world. <sect>Is svgalib dead?<label id="dead"> No, svgalib is far from dead! There are many programs around that use svgalib, including popular games such as <url name="Quake and Quake II" url="http://www.idsoftware.com">. Development of svgalib is actively progressing, with additions of support for several new video cards and mice and other new features. <sect1>What about X/fbcon/GGI/etc?<label id="other"> <url name="X" url="http://www.opengroup.org"> is a network windowing system that is great for GUI apps but stinks for games and other programs that need to get maximum speed out of the graphics hardware. Fbcon is currently very limited and unstable on the x86 architecture. <url name="GGI" url="http://synergy.caltech.edu/~ggi/"> is far from complete, and in fact has the ability to use svgalib as a display target. In short, none of these things are going to kill svgalib just yet. <sect>What is the current version of svgalib?<label id="current"> The current stable version of svgalib is 1.3.0, released on 12 July 1998. It is available from many popular Linux ftp sites such as <tt><htmlurl name="sunsite.unc.edu" url="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu"></tt> and <tt><htmlurl name="tsx-11.mit.edu" url="ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu"></tt>. No new development snapshots have been released so far. <sect1>Where can I get patches against the stable release?<label id="patches"> There is not currently a centralized location for such patches, so as I find them I will link to them here: <itemize> <item>Improved IntelliMouse & MouseMan+ (wheel mouse) and keymap support: <htmlurl url="http://pobox.com/~brion/linux/svgalib.html" name="Brion Vibber's Svgalib Stuff"> </itemize> <sect1>How can I get a development snapshot of svgalib?<label id="snapshot"> (Note that at this time there are no development snapshots! However there may be some again in the future so this section remains.) Development snapshots of svgalib are currently made available directly only to those who are actively participating in the development of svgalib. Many of the new features, especially the new display drivers, are somewhat buggy and unstable, so you should be willing and able to help debug any problems you find - which makes you a developer. Note that some new features are also available as patches against the stable release, such as improved IntelliMouse/MouseMan+ support. <sect1>How does the development version differ from the stable release?<label id="diff"> At this time there is no difference since a new stable release was just made. <sect>How can I participate in development of svgalib?<label id="participate"> You can contact Michael Weller, the svgalib maintainer, via e-mail at <tt><htmlurl name="eowmob@exp-math.uni-essen.de" url="mailto:eowmob@exp-math.uni-essen.de"></tt>, and request the secret location of the snapshots so that you can start developing. <sect1>Where is development of svgalib discussed?<label id="discuss"> At least some announcements of new patches are made in the linux-svgalib mailing list; to subscribe send a message to <tt><htmlurl name="majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu" url="mailto:majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu"></tt> containing the line ``<tt/subscribe linux-svgalib my_address@my_domain/''. There is a <tt><htmlurl name="linux.dev.svgalib" url="news:linux.dev.svgalib"></tt> newsgroup, but at least on my news feed it appears to be devoid of traffic. <tt><htmlurl name="comp.os.linux.development.system" url="news:comp.os.linux.development.system"></tt> is also a not unreasonable place to look or post, especially if you have/want patches against the stable release. <sect>Where can I go for more information?<label id="more"> Read the docs in the stable release, check out the above mailing lists and newsgroups, and if all else fails e-mail someone, either the person who coded some particular feature or the svgalib maintainer. </article>