> > First: Why would you WANT more than 1 video card? no real need.
>
[snip examples of uses ....]
> Suppose that Linux supported USB keyboards and multiple displays. Then
> two, three, maybe four people could work around one workstation, taking
> advantage of Linux' stability and multitasking abilities, with a quite
> small incremental cost per person.
Hmm. Is it me, or does that sound extreamly like where we were with
mainframes and serial terminals, just the terminals have become (more)
graphically capable ?
> How many offices have a printer on
> everyone's desk? Printer switches and networked printers are ubiquitous.
Hmm, this is mainly because you can explane the consept to almost anyone
(sharing a device that is only used intermitantly by any individual), but
(until now) the idea of sharing a CPU is a past thing, and it things sure
was slow then compared to now ....
> Multiheaded PCs will become common once businesses figure out that similar
> savings are possible with them. Upcoming versions of Microsoft Windows
> will likely support this.
Hmm, that would have made Microsoft change the way they licence there
software much more quickly than the legal system did ;)
> If Linux does not, it will slip farther from
> acceptance as a desktop OS in the cubicle zone.
>
No, we'll be able before they (Joe random accountant) is aware of the
posability ....
>
> > Fourth: My suggestion is to use the PCI card and not do anything, you
> > can't merge the VRAM to 2 megs....
>
[....]
I still don't see a point to merging video ram, it's only function is to
provide the digital data that is to be displayed on the screen. Merging
two video cards ram (over the slow bus ...), would leave you with either
two displays with the same image; or one larger and/or more colourful
display, and one blank one.
I suppose you could run one head in text mode (or a mode with a low memory
usage), and pinch the spare ram for the more demanding graphical mode on
the other head.
It's of little practical importance (at the moment) as the external bus
(to the card) speed is so much slower than the internal one, and would
leave fast/slow ram problems.
The only way you could get around it is with an extention of the cards
propriaty (?) fast bus to the other (homogeneous) card(s), and control of
the setup is going to be card specific ....
> ___
> Trevor Johnson <trevor@jpj.net>
>
Bryn
--
PGP key pass phrase forgotten, \ Overload -- core meltdown sequence
again :( and I don't care ;) | initiated.
/ This space is intentionally left
| blank, apart from this text ;-)
\____________________________________