Well, I'd like to start by commending all the XFree86 guys for doing such a excellent job with XFree86 v4. My performance has improved a _lot_ from v3 to v4 (on Red Hat Linux 6.2), and the support for modular plug-in video drivers is a real bonus.
X for me only seems to get more stable and faster rather than slower. The X Windows System provides a complete client-server method with host / user authentication for graphical display - not just a method to dump some pixels on a local display. X Windows is as complicated as it is only because it offers so much. This and the fact that nothing else I am aware of yet comes close, is one very good reason why its used today as the GUI by Linux, BSD and other *NIXs.
The thought of replacing X with an alternative that offers the same functionality and support, yet is faster, leaner and better designed is a huge long-term project, and joining such a project is going to mean more than just a few late nights. (Most people I know never even begin to understand some of the capabilities of the X Windows System.)
While there are _some_ valid points being raised here, I believe that there has been a genuine and demonstrated effort by the Linux + Open Source communities towards making a better environment! When I demonstrate Linux (with GNOME + SawFish) to people who have never seen it before, they love it. Why? Because it is well designed and things fit. Just because something is radical doesn't mean its going to be "better", particularly given existing user experience and training. There are too many exciting developments to spend time going through them all here.
If you don't like X as it is now, devote some time (or money) towards making it _better_! If your changes / patches are really for the better, no Open Source maintainer I know will laugh them off! Open Source development allows for strong peer review of code and encourages contribution and improvements. Not the opposite.
The current outcome? The combination of GNOME + SawFish WM + XFree86 v4 + Linux just blows me away. Want games with that? How about Quake III Arena with full 3D acceleration?! Now _that_ is a nice environment.
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Well, I'd like to start by commending all the XFree86 guys for doing such a excellent job with XFree86 v4. My performance has improved a _lot_ from v3 to v4 (on Red Hat Linux 6.2), and the support for modular plug-in video drivers is a real bonus.
X for me only seems to get more stable and faster rather than slower. The X Windows System provides a complete client-server method with host / user authentication for graphical display - not just a method to dump some pixels on a local display. X Windows is as complicated as it is only because it offers so much. This and the fact that nothing else I am aware of yet comes close, is one very good reason why its used today as the GUI by Linux, BSD and other *NIXs.
The thought of replacing X with an alternative that offers the same functionality and support, yet is faster, leaner and better designed is a huge long-term project, and joining such a project is going to mean more than just a few late nights. (Most people I know never even begin to understand some of the capabilities of the X Windows System.)
While there are _some_ valid points being raised here, I believe that there has been a genuine and demonstrated effort by the Linux + Open Source communities towards making a better environment! When I demonstrate Linux (with GNOME + SawFish) to people who have never seen it before, they love it. Why? Because it is well designed and things fit. Just because something is radical doesn't mean its going to be "better", particularly given existing user experience and training. There are too many exciting developments to spend time going through them all here.
If you don't like X as it is now, devote some time (or money) towards making it _better_! If your changes / patches are really for the better, no Open Source maintainer I know will laugh them off! Open Source development allows for strong peer review of code and encourages contribution and improvements. Not the opposite.
The current outcome? The combination of GNOME + SawFish WM + XFree86 v4 + Linux just blows me away. Want games with that? How about Quake III Arena with full 3D acceleration?! Now _that_ is a nice environment.