[CLUE-Tech] (In)Stability of X?

[Michael J. Hammel]

Thus spoke Sean LeBlanc
> I've read people's(usually pro-Microsoft folks) comments on Linux/BSD and
> they claim that, while the kernels are stable, X seizes up more than, say,
> W2K. These are usually in discussions about Linux's chance on the desktop.

Not completely a one to one comparison.  In most X seizures, X doesn't take
the OS with it.  Windows UI freezes are integrated with the OS, so the whole
thing goes away each time.

> Anyway, I guess my question is - has anyone else seen X lock up in new(ish)
> versions? What apps/window manager were you running?  

X has locked up a couple times on me.  But I've always been able to kill it
off, usually by remotely logging in and killing the processes.  The really
bad lockups will leave the video card in a state that I can't reset it to
terminal mode display.  Those cases require a reboot of the OS.

> BTW - the latest little quirk I've noticed in the W2K machine I've
> "inherited" from the last guy - Photoshop 5.5 will, during certain
> operations, just reboot the machine!!! 

I remember a time long past where such things were due to "triple faults" -
ocassions where the CPU got three instructions in a row it didn't know what
to do with and couldn't recover.  Such events were beyond the scope of the
OS.  Double faults usually just caused OS panics.  I don't know if modern
CPUs still do this, however.

-- 
Michael J. Hammel           |
The Graphics Muse           |  I'd explain it to you, but your brain would 
mjhammel at graphics-muse.org  |  explode.  -- Dilbert
http://www.graphics-muse.com