NFB advantages
The NFB interface
with the X Link Kit approach has a number of advantages:
-
One server binary can control multiple displays
from multiple vendors.
-
The drop-in driver mechanism allows a hardware vendor
to deliver a simple driver
that is installed on the system
without affecting the software for other graphics adapters
that are already installed on that system.
-
The server software is maintained
as part of the operating system
rather than as part of each driver.
This includes updates for new capabilities,
modifications for operating system changes,
and bug fixes.
In most cases,
the NFB driver will work without modification
on a new version of the X server.
-
It simplifies the graphics driver development process.
The X Link Kit tools create a basic graphics driver binary.
Customizing a few specific routines
to match the capabilities of the hardware
produces a working driver.
Customizing a few other routines optimizes the driver
to take full advantage of performance enhancements
that have been designed into the hardware.
© 2005 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
OpenServer 6 and UnixWare (SVR5) HDK - June 2005