                        README for XFree86[tm] 4.0.1

                          The XFree86 Project, Inc

                                30 June 2000

                                  Abstract

     XFree86 is the Open Source port of X.Org's X11R6.4 release that
     supports several UNIX(R) and UNIX-like (such as Linux, the BSDs and
     Solaris x86) operating systems on Intel and other platforms.

1.  What is XFree86 4.0.1?

XFree86 4.0.1 is a the upgrade to the first full release in the new XFree86 4
series.  Release 4 is a major re-design of the basic architectural underpin-
nings of XFree86's implementation of the original X Consortium's X Server.
This re-design allows for a modular interaction between the hardware drivers
and the XFree86 core X server.  With 4.0, upgrades to the X server with new
and unsupported hardware can be easily done and installed without undergoing
the previous process of rebuilding a X server.  All that is required is
installing the new driver module and updating the configuration file.

The road to XFree86 Release 4 began as an architectural concept in mid 1997,
with the serious framework being implemented in code the beginning of 1998.
There were several snapshots on the road to 4.0 which are now part of the 4.0
base release.  The 4.0.1 version is an upgrade to 4.0, which include more
hardware ports, code enhancements and bug fixes.

Release 4 also included the long-awaited integration of the DRI (Direct Ren-
dering Infrastructure).  This upgrade into the code base  gives XFree86 the
abilities of direct 3-D graphics rendering, used widely in games and other
visualization programs.

Many drivers used in the old 3.3.x series have not be converted over to the
4.0 design and so check first whether your hardware is supported before
upgrading to the 4.0 series in the Driver Status document.

Specific release enhancements can be viewed in the Release Notes.

Information about binary distributions and the attendant installation
instructions can be found in the Installation Document.

Copyright and Licensing information for this release and all XFree86 releases
can be found in the License Document.

2.  Joining The Team

2.1  Development

If you would like to work on the development of XFree86 4, either by helping
with the conversion of our older drivers to the new 4.0 design, or assisting
in the addition of new drivers or platforms to the code base then send a
request to to join the XFree86 development team
<URL:http://www.xfree86.org:/developer.html>.  This will give you direct
access to the latest XFree86 related development topics and discussions.
Include in your note, your name, email address, reason for joining (what you
will work on) and, level of expertise (coder, DRI, core, specific driver) and
area of interest.

2.2  Documentation

If instead your interests are on the Documentation side of the Project, or
you want to contribute and are not ready for plunging into the code, you can
join the Documentation Team (those hardy souls responsible for the content
you are reading :-).  Amongst the Doc Team's activities are converting our
SGML based documentation into an XML based one and updating and creating
technical documentation used by staff and public.  If this sounds interesting
then please send a request to join the XFree86 documentation team
<URL:mailto:signup@xfree86.org>.  Include in your note, you name, email
address, reason for joining (what you will work on) and level of expertise
and whether you are interested in the tools or content side of the group.

3.  The Public Mailing Lists

3.1  Newbie

For those who are new to XFree86  and want to learn more about our Project we
recommend that you join our Newbie list, located at Public Mailing Lists
<URL:http://www.xfree86.org/mailman/listinfo>, where this and other discus-
sions occur with our senior all-volunteer staff.  This is great forum to get
introduced to XFree86 and ask for help on how to set up the XServer or
whether your hardware is supported, and why not?,  and make suggestions for
future releases of XFree86.  This list is supported by our volunteer staff
who needs to know how you are using and interacting with XFree86 and what is
wrong and could be better.  Tell them, they want to know!

3.2  Announce

For those who just want to know  the release schedule this is a good list  to
join.

3.3  CVS Commit

For those who want to see what has been committed recently to our CVS reposi-
tory this is the list that will show you those updates.  This list is updated
dynamically every time the repository is updated after the the commit hap-
pens.

A followup to the commit list is the soon to be public, patch archives.  This
archive will be available on our web-site and will show what patches have
been submitted and will soon be committed.  This is helpful for people who
are interested in a specific area and want to know what work is happening
there.  When this goes public we will announce it on our web site and our
Announce mailing list, so keep watching.

3.4  Xpert

If instead you are the lone developer who is improving XFree86 on an ad hoc
basis for your particular environment (I want to get my mouse or video card
to work), and need a specific question asked then you should go over to our
Xpert list where such questions are raised and answered by our technical
development staff.  Remember you do not have to be a member to write fixes to
our code base and if your changes are discrete and self-contained the volume
of developer mail may just be too noisy.

Once your work is finished (coded, debugged and documented) please send your
fix to <fixes@XFree86.org>.  This will ensure that they are included in
future releases. And thanks!  You make this truly an Open group.

4.  How to get XFree86 4.0.1

XFree86 4.0.1 can be found at the XFree86 ftp server
<URL:ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.0.1/>, and at mirrors of this
server.  Information about obtaining and installing binary distributions of
this release can be found in the Installation Document.  Information about
obtaining the release in source form is given below.

The source for version 4.0.1 is split into three tarballs: X401src-1.tgz,
X401src-2.tgz, X401src-3.tgz.  The first contains everything except the fonts
and general X11 documentation.  It is sufficient for building XFree86 is you
already have a set of fonts.  The second contains the fonts and the source
for the general X11 documentation.  The third contains the general X11 docu-
mentation in hardcopy format.

A source patch relative to version 4.0 is also available.  Because of its
size, it is split into two parts.  The patch files are 4.0-4.0.1.diff1.gz and
4.0-4.0.1.diff2.gz.  These patches should be applied to a clean 4.0 source
tree, working from the directory containing the xc/ directory.  The patches
should be applied by running:

     gunzip < 4.0-4.0.1.diff1.gz | patch -p0 -E
     gunzip < 4.0-4.0.1.diff2.gz | patch -p0 -E

The contrib part of the distribution has been folded into the main source
tree, so a separate contrib tarball is no longer required.

To format the XFree86 documentation use the latest version of our doctools
package available as doctools-1.2.tgz.

5.  Reporting Bugs

Bugs should be reported to <XFree86@XFree86.org>.  Before reporting bugs,
please check the X server log file, which can be found at
/var/log/XFree86.0.log on most platforms.  If you can't resolve the problem
yourself, send the entire log file with your bug report but not the operating
system core dump.  Do not edit  the log file as our developers use it to
reproduce and debug your problem.

     Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/README.sgml,v 3.107 2000/07/02 16:35:56 dawes Exp $

