The Difference between Xfree86 and x.org
 

What's the difference between Xfree86 and X.org. It seems like X.org has a lot of big name support but besides that they seem like they would do the same thing. I'm just a tad bit confused :Pengy: :scratch: :confused:

http://www.xfree86.org/

does the 'what is xf86' bit answer you?

I know what Xf86 is. I wanted to know if there's any significant difference between xf86 and x.org.

x.org is a fork of xfree86 and initial releases were very much like xfree86 but no more. it's updated on a regular basis when compared to xfree86 and the development process is more open, so now it has some features that are lacking in xfree86.

On the same token, X.org is still a little new,... and therefore proprietary video driver support has been a little skittish. It's getting better, but until there is a pressing reason to switch, I'd stick with what you've got by default with your distro...

Let me jump in and ask... So X.Org is a fork of XFree86. Why did they branch themselves off? What would have been the problem with simply having XFree86 alone?

I have done some reading and found that the problems more or less came with Xfree introducing a new license
which was not compatible with the GPL. Thats was the main reason why the fork occurred !

I'll have to look around to make sure, but this doesn't sound right. Debian,which is comitted to the GNU project more than most distros, uses XFree86.

Thanks guys... I did some googling around based on your suggestions. I haven't gotten solid evidence yet, but it does look like the problem lies in the new licensing policy introduced by XFree86. I don't know when it's going to take effect, though.

As for Debian, is Sarge out yet? If not, are they possibly trying to switch from XFree86 to XOrg?

This Linux box I use at work, Vine 3.1, has XOrg, but I don't see any noticeable difference. It sure has /etc/X11/XF86Config! :)

Well, If you have read carefully what I said you would have known that I said introducing a new license. So versions before v4.4 are Ok license-wise.

From Slashdot

According to the XFree86 announcement starting with XFree86 v4.4.0-RC3 there will be a new license. There are some worries that these changes might be incompatible with the GPL."

Sarge isn't out yet. You can change to X.org under SID in any case. There are some guides in the debian forum.