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0 pointssaltcured8y ago0 comments

OK, so I guess the problem comes from trying to fuse everything into one screen? In the old days, we would run X with separate screen numbers to get multiple outputs via multiple graphics cards. You could slide your mouse between screens, but you couldn't drag a window across or have a window spanning the two screens. Each window remained confined to one screen, and only a few apps knew how to open windows on more than one screen from the same app instance. (A few, like emacs, even understand opening windows on multiple displays!)

Out of curiosity, what is a non-broken behavior supposed to be if the screens are combined? Do people expect the low-dpi screen to be a blurry version of whatever would appear on the high-dpi screen, or do they expect it to act like a magnifier, perhaps with pan/zoom controls?

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jhoechtl8y ago· 1 in thread

> In the old days, we would run X with separate screen numbers to get multiple outputs via multiple graphics cards

Those days are gone. No matter how hard you try - either you are simply not runing on current hardware, have very modest expectations or close your eyes to realize that the Linux desktop in this regard is at least two years behind, minimum!

saltcuredOP8y ago

I am not arguing, I am genuinely wondering what you guys want. I have read multiple assertions that Linux is broken but no clear explanation of what it should be doing differently.

For reference, I have been using Linux continuously on all sorts of hardware since 1994. What I lack is any practical experience using modern Windows or Mac OS, so I have no idea what implicit expectations you may be bringing from those. The last time I ran Windows directly on hardware was before Windows 95 was released, and similarly my only real Mac experience was on monochrome classic Macs before OS X existed.

Over the years, I have used just about every sort of display hardware with Linux, ranging from serial terminals, Hercules monochrome graphics, 800x600 through 1600x1200 CRTs, the first wave of DVI-based LCDs, various HDTVs, the first DLP projectors, and my current dual 4K monitors. I was also involved in the early testing and deployment of 2D and 3D accelerators on Linux, as well as things like clusters driving arrays of projectors. We even had one of those IBM "Big Bertha" displays in our lab at one point, which was one of the first 300 DPI LCD monitors available. Just about the only thing I haven't used with Linux is head-mounted displays nor stereo glasses. My last involvement with VR was 20 years ago when SGI Onyx-based CAVE systems were prevalent in academia, combining head-tracking, active shutters, and multiple wall projectors.

But, to be honest, I have no use case to combine different DPI monitors into a single graphical screen or desktop. If I connect a laptop to a projector or display panel for presentations, I tend to just want to duplicate the presentation view on the internal screen. Otherwise, I use the laptop to be mobile and I use workstations with their dedicated displays.

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