                          README for XFree86® 4.6.0

                          The XFree86 Project, Inc

                                 April 2006

                                  Abstract

      XFree86(R) is an Open Source version of the X Window System that
     supports many UNIX(R) and UNIX-like operating systems (such as
     Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris) on Intel and other
     platforms.  This version is compatible with X11R6.6.

1.  What is XFree86 4.6.0?

XFree86 4.6.0 is the ninth full release in the XFree86 4.x series.

XFree86 4.x is the current XFree86 release series.  The first release in this
series was in early 2000.  The core of XFree86 4.x is a modular X server.
The 4.6.0 version is a new release that includes additional hardware support,
functional enhancements and bug fixes.  Specific release enhancements can be
viewed in the Release Notes.

Most modern PC video hardware is supported in XFree86 4.6.0, and most PC
video hardware that isn't supported explicitly can be used with the "vesa"
driver.  The Release Notes has a table showing the drivers provided with
XFree86 4.6.0, and links to related documentation.

XFree86® is produced by The XFree86 Project, Inc through the work of a group
of volunteer independent developers.  The XFree86 Project is a non-commercial
organisation and XFree86 would not exist without the invaluable development
contributions of volunteers from around the world.

XFree86 is a registered trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.

2.  Licensing

XFree86 source code is covered by many licenses.  All of these licenses have
in common the fact that they do not impose significant conditions on the mod-
ification or redistribution or either source code or binaries beyond requir-
ing one or more of the following:

  1.  Copyright and/or license notices are left intact.

  2.  Copyright and/or license notices are reproduced verbatim in documenta-
      tion accompanying binary distributions.

  3.  Attributions are included with documentation accompanying binaries.

Most of these licenses are based on the MIT, X Consortium, or BSD (original
and revised) licenses.  All of them are consistent with the Open Source Defi-
nition, and most are consistent with the Free Software Foundation's Free
Software Definition.

Copyright and Licensing information for XFree86, including the reproduction
of copyright and/or license notices and attributions required by some of the
licenses for binary distributions, can be found in the License Document.  If
you find any omissions in that document, please contact us with details at
<bod@XFree86.org>.

3.  Pointers to additional information

The documentation for this release can be found online at the XFree86 web
site <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/4.6.0/>.  Documentation for the latest
release version can always be found here <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/cur-
rent/>, and documentation for the latest pre-release snapshot can be found
here <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/snapshot/>.

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

The XFree86 version numbering system (including historical information) can
be found in the Versions Document.

Additional information may be available at the XFree86 web site
<URL:http://www.xfree86.org/>, and pointers to other information are avail-
able at the XFree86 support page <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/sos/>.

4.  The Public Mailing Lists

Current information about the XFree86 public mailing lists can be found at
our web site <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/sos/lists.html>.

4.1  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.

4.2  Devel

This list is available for discussions about XFree86 development and for fol-
lowing up well-defined bug reports.  Many experienced XFree86 developers are
present on this list.

4.3  XFree86

This list is available for any discussions and questions related to XFree86.
Support related questions should be sent here.  Many experienced XFree86
developers monitor this list.

4.4  Forum

This list is available for high level discussions about XFree86 and related
technologies, their future, and for inter-project communication.

5.  Contributing to XFree86

If you have any new work or enhancements/bug fixes for existing work, please
submit them to <patch@XFree86.org> or to our bug tracking system
<URL:http://bugs.xfree86.org/>.  This will ensure that they are reviewed for
inclusion in future releases.  New works should be discussed on our
<devel@XFree86.org> list prior to submission.

Current information about the XFree86 development process can be found at our
web site <URL:http://www.xfree86.org/developer/>.

6.  How to get XFree86 4.6.0

XFree86 4.6.0 can be found at the XFree86 ftp server
<URL:ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.6.0/>.  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 4.6.0 is split into seven tarballs:

     XFree86-4.6.0-src-1.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-2.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-3.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-4.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-5.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-6.tgz
     XFree86-4.6.0-src-7.tgz

The first three contain everything except the fonts and general X11 documen-
tation.  Those three are sufficient for building XFree86 if you already have
a set of fonts.  The fourth and fifth contain the fonts.  The sixth contains
the source for the general X11 documentation.  The seventh contains the gen-
eral X11 documentation in hardcopy format.

A source patch relative to version 4.5.0 is also available.  Because of its
size, it is split into four parts.  The patch files are:

     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff1.gz
     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff2.gz
     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff3.gz
     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff4.gz

There is also a tarball and a cleanup script that handle files that have com-
ponents that can't be included in a diff.  These are:

     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0-diff0.tgz
     XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0-cleanup.sh

These patches should be applied to a clean 4.5.0 source tree, working from
the directory containing the xc/ directory.  The patches should be applied by
running:

     gzip -d < XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff1.gz | patch -p0 -E
     gzip -d < XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff2.gz | patch -p0 -E
     gzip -d < XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff3.gz | patch -p0 -E
     gzip -d < XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0.diff4.gz | patch -p0 -E

     sh XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0-cleanup.sh
     gzip -d < XFree86-4.5.0-4.6.0-diff0.tgz | tar vxf -

To format the XFree86 documentation use the latest version of our doctools
package available from the XFree86 CVS repository's "doctools" module, and
from our ftp site <URL:ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/misc/doc-
tools-1.3.4.tgz>.

The XFree86 source code for this and all releases/snapshots as well as devel-
opment versions can also be accessed via the XFree86 CVS repository.  Infor-
mation about accessing this can be found at the CVS page
<URL:http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/> on our web site.  It's also possible to
browse the XFree86 CVS repository at our CVSWeb server
<URL:http://cvsweb.xfree86.org/>.  The CVS tag for this version is
"xf-4_6_0".  The CVS tag for the stable branch for this release is
"xf-4_6-branch".  To check out the latest development version, don't specify
any tag.

7.  Reporting Bugs

Bugs should be reported to <XFree86@XFree86.org>.  Before reporting bugs,
please check the XFree86 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.

8.  Supporting XFree86

The XFree86 Project, Inc is a nonprofit that oversees the development of
XFree86.  As with the XFree86 software, the nonprofit is run and operated
entirely by unpaid volunteers.  Donations to The XFree86 Project go towards
maintaining our online presence and related infrastructure and modest operat-
ing expenses.  If you find XFree86 useful, and would like to help us continue
in our work, please consider a small donation
<URL:http://www.xfree86.org/donations/>.

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$XFree86: xc/README.txt,v 1.5 2006/04/12 01:50:31 dawes Exp $
