Xephyr
Encyclopedia
In computing
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

, Xephyr is a KDrive
KDrive
KDrive is a small X Window System server implementation created by Keith Packard. Unlike the X.Org Server, KDrive was not based on XFree86 code...

-based X server which targets a window
Window (computing)
In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows...

 on a host X Server as its framebuffer
Framebuffer
A framebuffer is a video output device that drives a video display from a memory buffer containing a complete frame of data.The information in the memory buffer typically consists of color values for every pixel on the screen...

.

Features

Unlike the similar Xnest
Xnest
Xnest is an X Window System server that shows its output in a window. In other words, Xnest opens a window that works like another screen in which the user can open windows, etc....

, Xephyr supports modern X extensions (even if host server doesn't) such as composite, damage, randr, etc. It uses SHM
MIT-SHM
The MIT Shared Memory Extension or MIT-SHM is a X Window System extension for exchange of image data between client and server using shared memory.The basic capability provided is that of shared memory XImages...

 images and shadow framebuffer updates to provide good performance. It also has a visual debugging mode for observing screen updates.

Limitations

Xephyr doesn't pick up the correct keyboard configuration from evdev
Evdev
In computing, evdev is a component of the Linux kernel for handling input and a closely related input driver for the X.Org Server. The kernel component is glue code which translates input events from peripheral-specific drivers into a generic structure which the input driver can easily translate...

-based keyboard drivers, so users must configure Xephyr's keyboard layout manually when using such keyboard drivers.

Xorg's version of Xephyr only supports software rendering
Software rendering
In the context of rendering , software rendering refers to a rendering process that is unaided by any specialized graphics hardware, such as a graphics card. The rendering takes place entirely in the CPU...

 for OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...

, but Feng Haitao has developed a forked version of Xephyr which supports hardware-accelerated rendering if the underlying X server supports it.

See also

  • Xnest
    Xnest
    Xnest is an X Window System server that shows its output in a window. In other words, Xnest opens a window that works like another screen in which the user can open windows, etc....

  • Thin clients
    Thin client
    A thin client is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer to fulfill its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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