Re: SVGALIB on Thinkpad

[Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net>]

Jan Ekholm wrote:

> >> Dunno - but SVGALIB is getting kind outdated - you should probably try
> >> to avoid using it.
> >
> >Yes, but it works. Unlike SDL at the moment which still doesn't want
> >to install...
> 
> I think that many/most people nowadays avoid SVGALIB games. I've seen it
> lock my machine solid, so I'll never even consider trying such a game. A
> SDL game on the other hand does not need to run fullscreen or do too many
> dirty tricks. Of course this list is full of anti-SDL people too, so
> you'll probably hear a lot against SDL too. :)

It's not even that your choice is "SDL or SVGALIB" - it's more a case
of SVGALIB versus ANY Xfree86 wrapper library.  There are dozens of
them.

There are some significant problems with SDL - but it's increasingly
becoming a standard so if your machine won't run it, you are shutting
yourself out of an awful lot of good software.  It's worth the effort to
get it going.

> Bottom line: I'd investigate other alternatives to SDL. If the
> alternatives don't compile/install try to solve those problems instead,
> and let SVGALIB rest in peace.

Yes - I agree.

Both SVGALIB and Xfree86 have to have new drivers written for almost
every new graphics chipset...however, pretty much all of the people
who have the ability and inclination to write those drivers are now
working on the Xfree stuff - so it's very unlikely that svgalib
drivers will be up to date or reliable on modern graphics cards.


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