https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=389569 User maacruz@gmail.com added comment https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=389569#c2 --- Comment #2 from Miguel Angel Alvarez 2008-05-14 15:23:09 MST --- (In reply to comment #1 from Stefan Dirsch)

This is not a decision, which depends on the driver. Composite and AIGLX is the default since xorg-server 1.4. Ok

...

causing great slowdown at X startup and when resizing windows.

Hmm. You're the first, who complained about that ... May be I'm the only beta tester with such hardware, or may be others simply disabled composite and remained silent...

...

Suggestion: aiglx and composite should be disabled by default, if not by the X server, by yast/sax2 on xorg.conf

This would make it hard for anyone else not familiar with X.Org to enable AIGLX. The situation we had on 10.3. Therefore I need to reject this. I suggest to disable it for you, since others don't seem to suffer from performance issues and everybody else is asking for having AIGLX.

By no means I have unusual hardware, it is a pretty common Radeon 9200SE (rv280 chipset, GeCube branding) on a Gigabyte motherboard (Athlon XP, nforce2 chipset). And I also tested it with a different computer with a onboard nvidia 6100 and it had the same issue. I'm with you about AIGLX, it is complex to enable, so let it enabled by default. I only asked about disabling AIGLX because it seems to introduce some inestabilities. But composite extension is another matter, window resizing slowdowns to 1-2 fps, and this is a known issue, see this thread http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=98277 By just disabling composite, the slow window resizing issue is gone. So, I ask you to please reconsider, and disable composite (adding 'option "composite" "false"' on xorg.conf by default), at least on radeon r200 based cards and may be some nvidia. This way, if someone wants to enable compositing effects, it is enough to comment out that line (which could be easily done by the compiz-manager script or yast/sax2). By leaving composite enabled, once 11.0 goes gold, quite a number of users will be affected (and of those few will be familiar enough with xorg to know what's wrong and how to fix it). -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.

https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=389569

User maacruz@gmail.com added comment
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=389569#c4





--- Comment #4 from Miguel Angel Alvarez   2008-05-15 16:42:53 MST ---
And having AIGLX+Composite without a compositing manager is about as useless,
so anyone not installing compiz or kde4 will have all the disadvantages and
none of the benefits.
I want to explain why I think the actual situation is wrong and can't be left
as it is now, so please, forgive me for such long essay.

The first question is, why enable AIGLX+Composite? The answer is to provide 3D
effects on the desktop, which in the end, it is mostly eyecandy

The second question is, could be any problem of importance by enabling those
extensions, and to how many people? Yes, I have shown you a very serious
usability issue, and the affected hardware is quite common.

Now, please consider the usability scenarios that will arise, as it is now:

For an expert user, he may know what is happening, and if not, he will know
where and how to ask, and eventually will fix it. More or less a little
annoyance.

For the inexperienced/non-technical user, the issue will be quite different. He
will install opensuse and will perceive it as very slow, and will blame
opensuse or linux for it, not knowing what the problem is or how to fix it, or
even how to ask for help. The most probable outcome is the user being turned
away from opensuse or linux.

So, is it worth to have the later scenario for for some eyecandy on some
situations? And, what could be done to avoid it?

I don't think it is right to cause such serious usability problem and do
nothing about it, so this should be solved one way or another.
1- It could be prominently documented, with detailed instructions on how to
solve the problem. Even the 'Option "Composite" "false"' should be present in
xorg.conf
2- Composite could be enabled, with an easy way to disable it (like checking an
option in yast)
3- Composite could be disabled (on xorg.conf), with detailed instructions on
how to enable it
4- Composite could be disabled, with an easy way to enable it (like checking an
option in yast, or by the same script used to activate compiz)

>From an ergonomic point of view, I think the best option is the last one,
because:
- If the user wants 3D effects, he will investigate how to activate them. The
question to ask is easy (how do I enable the 3D effects?) and the answer is
easy (run compizconfig script, or check this option in yast)
- Even having AIGLX+Composite enabled as it is now, the user still has to
install and activate compiz, so he needs to research the question anyway
- Since Composite may break things, an user action should be required to enable
it
- People (specially non technical people) don't like to read general
documentation, even less if it is technical, like release notes, manuals and
such, so simply documenting the problem is likely to be unnoticed for many.
- Some people doesn't even know how to edit xorg.conf, so enabling/disabling
Composite should be done as automatic as possible.
The next best option would be 2, followed by 3, and last 1. Obviously the worst
thing would be do nothing about it.

So, what I really ask you, is to provide some solution to the problem before it
becomes a problem of many, and not simply close the bug.


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