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XFree86 Gets 25k

Posted by Hemos on from the mo-money-mo-money dept.

a_little_bird informed that XFree86 will be getting the LinuxWorldExpo Community prize this coming February. That little coup will add another $25,000 to their coffers. Congrats, and we're waiting patiently for v4. *grin*

24 comments

  1. Yay for them... by Jestrzcap · · Score: 1

    Hopefully this will motivate them to get v4 out ahead of time... like as early as... this morning perhaps? Not to rush them or anything (dri, dri, dri, dri, dri, dri wheeeeeeeeee!) Keep up the good work guys!
    ~Jester

    --
    "I have great faith in fools: Self confidence my friends call it." ~Edgar Allan Poe
  2. V4 Would be nice. by Salant · · Score: 3
    But wouldn't it suck if the X developers
    decided to postpone the release of v4 everytime
    someone asked them about it?

    :) hehehehe

  3. Speak for yourself. :) by jd · · Score: 1
    I'm not impatient, but if the XFree developers don't deliver a bug-free, accelerated mega-version of V4 in the... hmmmm.... next half hour? I'll... I'll... I'll... I'll make them watch non-stop re-runs of "K9 and Company"!

    Seriously congrats to XFree86 for a well-deserved award. Even if the configure programs should be burned at the stake. :)

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    1. Re:Speak for yourself. :) by quasimoto · · Score: 1

      Good for XFree86 for getting the award. However, burning configure at the stake is to good for it. If it was drawn and quartered that's fine by me. Just one problem, who has "the great" replacement? I don't. -d

  4. Not to be skeptical... by bak6926 · · Score: 1

    I usually do believe everything on slashdot **cough** but is there any proof of this?

    1. Re:Not to be skeptical... by John+Fulmer · · Score: 2

      Well, considering that the submitter, 'a_little_bird' is a kristin_deangelis@idg.com, and IDG is the one handing out the money, it seems pretty positive....

      I guess that depends on who Kristin actually is....

    2. Re:Not to be skeptical... by the+little+bird · · Score: 1

      Greetings-Yes, the XFree86 will be receiving the $25,000 IDG/Linus Torvalds Community Award following Linus Torvalds' keynote presentation on February 2nd at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in NYC (http://www.linuxworldexpo.com). Kristin DeAngelis- Marketing Manager, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo

  5. Good choice! by Sesse · · Score: 3

    Finally the XFree86 team are rewarded for their hard work. I think they would do themselves a favour by opening themselves _even_ more up, though. (Yes, yes, I _know_ you can get the source by subscribing to a mailing-list, but anonymous CVS wouldn't hurt either. I just discovered that 3.9.17 hangs my machine, and I have no idea what change causes it.)

    /* Steinar */

    --
    (This comment is of course GPLed.)
  6. Maybe They're Waiting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The reason they are waiting to put out V4 is becouse they want to redo thier web pages with the Slash .4 source:)

  7. Let's just leave it at congrats. by colnago · · Score: 1
    No matter what release a software package is on there's *always* someone waiting for the next one. Perhaps in a story like this it should just remain unsaid.

    Way to go X team.

  8. XFree is due for this by kdekorte · · Score: 4

    It has been my opionion for awhile now that Xfree v4.0 is the most important part of the 'Linux' OS. The kernel is now in a pretty decent state and is very usable. 4.0 should allow more consumer oriented applications (yes, games) to be run. Once 4.0 has proven itself to be stable and fast we'll be looking at a big jump in support. For example look at all the games that have come out for Windoze once DirectX became available. I see this as a possibility for Linux if 4.0 is everything we hope it will be. Congrats on the award and keep up the good work.

    1. Re:XFree is due for this by yerricde · · Score: 1

      Your "consumer oriented applications" can be made with Allegro, which extends the ANSI C API with its own compressed filesystem (packfiles and datafiles), two-dimensional and limited three-dimensional graphics (there are also *GL addons), input management (keyboard, joystick, and mouse), sound, and fixed-point math. And an Allegro-based game can be recompiled and relinked with the DOS, Windows, and *nix versions of the Allegro library, and they'll use VESA, DirectX, and X11 automatically. That's why I chose Allegro for freepuzzlearena, a Tetris clone. (No downloads yet; pin0cchio and I can't figure out how to get xoom ftp to work right.)

      And it's nearing 4.0 too.

      --
      Will I retire or break 10K?
  9. You HAVE K9 and Company? by wowbagger · · Score: 1

    Finding a copy of K9&Co that wasn't a 2000th generation copy of somebody pointing their NTSC camera at a PAL TV playing a 20th generation copy of an off-the-air broadcast has been impossible. You know a good source for [NTSC|MPEG] of it?

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
    1. Re:You HAVE K9 and Company? by BriteNite · · Score: 1

      There's a commercial release of it in the US. Check a few online video retailers. I know amazon.com has it, if you're not boycotting them.

  10. Methinks there will be a burning... by Christopher+B.+Brown · · Score: 2
    If you're talking about the dev tools side of things, perhaps not, but I gather that the format of the XFree86Config file changes significantly, thus mandating creation of "fresh" configuration software.

    Hopefully this is an opportunity to build something considerably friendlier/prettier than what they've had. Although I'm quite happy if they wait, oh, "half an hour or so" to implement it...

    --
    If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  11. In other news today.... by rogerbo · · Score: 1
    Chip manufacturer NVidia released an unpdated SVGA and GLX driver for XFree86 3.3.5.

    Although still not using the DRI interface it now supports hardware 3d rendering in 32 bit and, wait for it, the GeForce!

    Get it here: click me

    Score -1: Off topic, Score +1: Informative..

    thank you and goodnight

  12. Star Wars Enlightenment Theme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope to God they DON'T come out with a Star Wars Enlightenment theme to coincide with the release of v4. GOD HELP US IF THEY DO! Can you imagine the amount of /. coverage it would get? As Snoop Dog Sez... Star Wars can "Eat Dee's Nuts"

  13. XFree86 is a Cathedral by Luyseyal · · Score: 1

    sure, this is prolly troll-bait, but it's also reality.

    XFree86 is cathedral development.

    why do they have closed development lists?
    why do we only get a paucity of snapshots?
    why is there no public cvs server?

    don't get me wrong, i'm very happy about the project, but i'd really like to see them open up their doors to the public like Linux, Samba, etc.

    $0.02USD,
    -l

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    Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
    1. Re:XFree86 is a Cathedral by McKing · · Score: 5

      As they have stated many times, the reason for closed development lists is the fact that you currently have to sign NDA's with the major graphics chip companies in order to work on XFree. The NDA's are designed to keep the programming specs secret, but they allow for source code release of the drivers. This keeps the suits at ATi, Matrox, etc.. happy, and allows XFree to run on the various cards. Up till now, this has been an OK relationship.

      With 4.0, however, the driver layer has been abstracted into loadable modules, so we should see the core server functionality opening up a lot (I hope!). I for one would like to see division along the lines of KDE/Gnome, with a group of people working on the NDA-requiring drivers, and the rest of the tree open on an anonymous CVS server. This would allow more "casual" eyes on the code, while keeping the "developers" who want to devote more time as the maintainers of the various modules and subsystems.

      This would also let you get daily snaps of _most_ of the stuff, with driver snaps released frequently, too, since the driver people wouldn't have to constantly wait on the core people, and vice-versa.

      --
      If only "common" sense was actually that common...
    2. Re:XFree86 is a Cathedral by cangurillo · · Score: 1

      why 1.: To keep out the pseudo-technical hoi poloi. why 2.: Because they're busy working for the common good: (Have you ever heard Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man)? why 3.: See above, (w1, then w2). [If you haven't heard it, Try!]

  14. Re:Apache Foundation to get $8k by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is really poor form. your post may not be completely off-topic, but it does emit a foul an unpleasant odor.

    your ECDL project, Robert, has already been mentioned by Slashdot at http://slashdot.org/apache/99/12/ 15/0926237.shtml. The need for you to advertise your project in articles that simply mention the same charity/foundation that you chose to support simply does not exist.

    thank you for keeping slashdot clean.

  15. Re:I like giving petrified girls $25K by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a faggot.

    Go play with a dildo or something, dicklick.

    You sound disgusting. I wish you would die. Seriously. I really do. It's probably dicklickers like you who molest little boys. Faggot. Go die.

  16. Way to go! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Im surprised by the little number of people discussing this story.

    Xfree86 is probably one of the most important pieces of software that comes with Linux. You don't see it much though, all you see is the windowmanagers and apps built on top of it. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, we just don't see the giants. I would NOT be using Linux hadn't it been for Xfree86. NEVER forget that even if you don't see it, it is there and it is important.

    And for the people whining about the release of 4.0 being late. I am very happy with 3.3.5 and would rather wait for them to do 4.0 right than rush the release.

    AFAIK there are only three more things Xfree86 needs to be perfect, and that is:

    3D support
    Antialiased truetype support
    Friendlier configuration (for the layman)

    I am very happy with it, and I am running in "weird" resoultions like 912x684 97hz and 1104x828 in 80 hz, I can even get 1472x1104 in 60 hz with my current monitor.


  17. yipeeeee by serialk · · Score: 1


    yay !?!?!@?!?#?$?$%?%$?