From: dwex@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) Subject: Re: XConfigs Date: Sat, 1 May 1993 19:34:29 GMT
In article <10011@dirac.physics.purdue.edu> bcr@bohr.physics.purdue.edu (Bill C. Riemers) writes:
> In article <C6B9HF.GLI@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> dwex@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) writes:
> >In article <C6B4u6.4zK@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> whamlin@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (William L. Hamlin) writes:
> >> Maybe we should just start a collection of Xconfig files for various
> >> card setups. If we were to put it at tsx-11 or somewhere, we could
> >> cut all the traffic of people asking for Xconfig for this or Xconfig
> >> for that.
> >Or, as is stated in the official documentation, you could send the information
> >on your card and monitor to me for inclusion in the modeDB.txt database.
>
> Read the FAQ, a database of complete Xconfig files already exists... It is just
> that very few people have bothered to submit. It looks like you didn't know
> about this service, just as I didn't know you were the person maintaining the
> modeDB.txt database. Unlike your service, I'm keeping complete Xconfig files.
> The primary reason is that just blindly using mode lines can be very dangerous!
> I managed to burn out a monitor trying modes from from verious sources without
> knowing what I was doing.
As I told Bill in email (when he sent this to me directly), a database of
Xconfig files is a waste of resources, for the following reasons:
1) There's a whole lot of wasted disk space on irrelevent
information (font path, mouse device, etc).
2) It is unsafe and unwise to take someone else's Xconfig file.
One should READ the documentation, and come up with your
OWN Xconfig file.
3) Having an Xconfig file for "Card XXX" is completely irrelevent.
It is FAR more important to have MONITOR information (although
an Xconfig file matching BOTH the card and monitor in question
is a wonderful thing to find).
4) A user is MORE likely to fry a monitor by using an Xconfig
from someone else, without any information about what
monitor it is for, than they are from (a) using the mode
database to get starting values for their specifi monitor
and/or (b) READING THE DOCUMENTATION.
5) The Xconfig format has been evolving through releases. A
database of Xconfig files will continue to get more out of
date.
Anyone who blindly uses ANY numbers from ANY source deserves what they
get.
>
> Anyways, since only modeDB.txt is included with xfree1.2, it is probably a good
> idea if occassionally you send me a message with the subject "Xconfig-file"
> to find out what to add to modeDB.txt. Unfortunately, I can't do the reverse,
> since I'd have no way of taking modeDB.txt values and properly inserting
> them into an Xconfig file without having a relavent card and monitor available
> for debugging. Purhaps in the future, modeDB.txt could be converted to a
> modeDB.patch file? (Probably not, since value able experience and knowledge
> is lost in the old entries...)
>
Actually, it's probably best if XFree86 users help ALL XFree86 users
by contributing to the XFree86-supported database. I don't do this for
my health - my setup works fine. It's done to benefit ALL of the
users.