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Mir (software)

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Mir
Original author(s)Canonical Ltd.
Developer(s)Canonical Ltd.
Initial releaseTBA. Was planned 2013.
Preview release
0.0.15 / 15 October 2013; 10 years ago (2013-10-15)[1]
Repository
Written inC++
Operating systemLinux
TypeDisplay server
LicenseGPLv3[2]
Websiteunity.ubuntu.com/mir/
wiki.ubuntu.com/Mir/Spec

Mir is a computer display server for Linux in development by Canonical Ltd. It is planned to replace the currently used X Window System for Ubuntu.[3][4][5]

Mir was announced by Canonical on 4 March 2013.[6] Mir has been developed to enable the development of Unity 8, the next generation of the Unity user interface.[3]

Software architecture

Mir, like Wayland, is built on EGL[7] and uses some of the infrastructure originally developed for Wayland[8] such as Mesa’s EGL implementation[7] and Jolla’s libhybris.[9][10] The compatibility layer for X, XMir, is based on XWayland.[11]

Other parts of the infrastructure used by Mir originate from Android. These parts include Android’s input stack[12] and Google’s Protocol Buffers.[13] An implementation detail in memory management shared with Android is the use of server-allocated buffers which Canonical employee Christopher Halse Rogers claims to be a requirement for "the ARM world and Android graphics stack".[14][15]

According to Ryan Paul of Ars Technica,

Some of the benefits that Mir will eventually offer include lower overhead in the display pipeline, more seamless transitions between display modes during the boot process, richer input handling that will make it easier to support things like touchscreen gestures, more seamless support for systems with switchable graphics hardware (like laptops that can dynamically shift between using embedded and discrete graphics), and better application interchange (which will help improve things like the clipboard and drag-and-drop).[15]

Adoption

As of September 2013 the only announced desktop environment with native support for Mir is Canonical's Unity 8. No other Linux distribution has announced plans to adopt Mir as default display manager.

On 23 July 2013, Compiz developer Sam Spilsbury announced a proof-of-concept port of XBMC to Mir,[16] based on the previous proof-of-concept port of XBMC to Wayland.[17] On the same day Canonical developer Oliver Ries confirmed that "this is the first native Mir client out in the wild".[18]

Among Ubuntu derivatives using a non-Unity environment, Xubuntu developers announced in early August 2013 that they would evaluate running Xfce via XMir,[19] but three weeks later decided to refrain from adopting it.[20]

Ubuntu

In June 2013 Canonical's publicly announced milestones for Mir development were to ship Unity 7 with XMir by default and a pure X11 fallback mode with Ubuntu 13.10, remove the X11 fallback with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and Unity 8 running natively on Mir by Ubuntu 14.10.[21] Later, on 1 October 2013, Canonical announced a postponement of their Mir plans for desktop use and not use XMir as default in Ubuntu 13.10.[15] Ubuntu Touch, however is targeted to ship with Mir and a smartphone version of Unity 8.[22][23]

Controversy

In March 2013, Mir was announced by Canonical Ltd. as the replacement display server for the X.Org Server in Ubuntu.[6] Previously, in 2010, it was announced that Wayland would be used.[24] There were several posts made in objection or clarification, by people leading other similar or affected projects.[25][26][27][28]

Canonical states that it could not meet Ubuntu’s needs with Wayland.[15]

When announcing Mir, Canonical made various claims about Wayland's input system which were quickly rebutted by the Wayland developers.[29][30]

Longtime Linux kernel developer Matthew Garrett criticized choice of licensing for Canonical's software projects, particularly Mir. Unlike X.Org Server and Wayland, both under the MIT License, Mir is licensed under GPLv3 – "an odd [choice]" for "GPLv3-hostile markets" – but contributors are required to sign an agreement that "grants Canonical the right to relicense your contribution under their choice of license. This means that, despite not being the sole copyright holder, Canonical are free to relicense your code under a proprietary license". He concludes that this creates asymmetry where "you end up with a situation that looks awfully like Canonical wanting to squash competition by making it impossible for anyone else to sell modified versions of Canonical's software in the same market".[31][32][33][34] Garrett’s concerns were echoed by Bradley M. Kuhn,[35][36] Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy.[37]

In June 2013 Jonathan Riddell of Kubuntu announced that Kubuntu would not be switching to Mir. He stated "A few months ago Canonical announced their new graphics system for Ubuntu, Mir. It's a shame the Linux desktop market hasn't taken off as we all hoped at the turn of the millennium and they feel the need to follow a more Apple or Android style of approach making an OS which works in isolation rather than as part of a community development method. Here at Kubuntu we still want to work as part of the community development, taking the fine software from KDE and other upstream projects and putting it on computers worldwide. So when Ubuntu desktop gets switched to Mir we won't be following. We'll be staying with X on the images for our 13.10 release now in development and the 14.04 LTS release next year. After that we hope to switch to Wayland which is what KDE and every other Linux distro hopes to do".[38][39][40]

Also in June 2013 Julien Lavergne, of the Lubuntu project, indicated that Lubuntu would not be switching to Mir for at least the next two releases.[39][41]

In August 2013, after evaluating Mir, the Xubuntu developers decided not to use Mir or XMir for Xubuntu 13.10.[42][43][44] Unofficial test versions of Xubuntu with Mir and XMir are available.[43][45]

In September 2013, an Intel developer removed XMir support from their video driver and wrote "We do not condone or support Canonical in the course of action they have chosen, and will not carry XMir patches upstream".[46][47][48]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mir Bumped To Version 0.0.15 & Mir Server 7". Phoronix.com. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Mir:readme". Ubuntu. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b "MirSpec". wiki.ubuntu.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Canonical reveals plans to launch Mir display server – Update". H-online.com. 24 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  5. ^ Brodkin, Jon (17 May 2012). "Ubuntu dumps X window system, creates replacement for PC and mobile". Ars Technica. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Canonical announces Mir, a custom display server that will serve up future versions of Unity". engadget.com. 4 March 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Canonical announced a new display server – Mir, and it is good for the consumer". Geek.co.il. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  8. ^ Christopher Halse Rogers. "Tomorrow Comes Today: Mir and YOU!". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  9. ^ Carsten Munk (11 April 2013). "Wayland utilizing Android GPU drivers on glibc based systems, Part 1". Mer Project. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  10. ^ "libhybris in Launchpad". Launchpad.net. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  11. ^ Thomas Voss (4 March 2013). "Mir – An outpost envisioned as a new home". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  12. ^ "android-input README". Launchpad.net.
  13. ^ Christopher Halse Rogers. "Tomorrow Comes Today: Artistic differences". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  14. ^ Christopher Halse Rogers. "Tomorrow Comes Today: Server Allocated Buffers in Mir". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Paul, Ryan (17 October 2013). "Ubuntu 13.10 review: The Linux OS of the future remains a year away". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  16. ^ Sam Spilsbury (23 July 2013). "XBMC on Mir". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  17. ^ Sam Spilsbury (27 February 2013). ""Hello" from XBMC on Wayland". Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  18. ^ Oliver Ries. "Sam Spilsbury is still the man". Google+. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  19. ^ "XMir-Based Xubuntu Images Now Available". Phoronix.com. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  20. ^ "Xfce-Based Xubuntu Will Not Ship XMir For 13.10". Phoronix.com. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  21. ^ "Ubuntu graphic stack roadmap update". Lists.ubuntu.com. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Ubuntu 13.10 Desktop Will Not Use XMir By Default". Phoronix.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  23. ^ "XMir update for Ubuntu 13.10". Fridge.ubuntu.com. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  24. ^ Shuttleworth, Mark (4 November 2010). "Unity on Wayland". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  25. ^ Grässlin, Martin (8 March 2013). "War is Peace". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  26. ^ Edmundson, David (12 March 2013). "KDE, LightDM and the Mir Kerfuffle". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  27. ^ Larabel, Michael (13 March 2013). "GNOME Will Move Full-Speed With Wayland Support". Phoronix. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  28. ^ Grässlin, Martin (12 May 2013). "Mir in Kubuntu". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  29. ^ Larabel, Michael (4 March 2013). "Upstream X/Wayland Developers Bash Canonical, Mir". Phoronix. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  30. ^ Larabel, Michael (5 March 2013). "A Note To Canonical: "Don't Piss On Wayland"". Phoronix. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  31. ^ Garrett, Matthew (19 June 2013). "Mir, the Canonical CLA and skewing the playing field". Dreamwidth. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  32. ^ "Mir's GPLv3 License Is Now Raising Concerns". Phoronix. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  33. ^ "Die Woche: Canonical wiederholt Fehler | heise open" (in German). Heise.de. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  34. ^ "Intel entfernt Mir-Unterstützung" (in German). Pro-Linux.de. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  35. ^ Bradley M. Kuhn (23 June 2013). "Matthew Garrett on Mir". Ebb.org. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  36. ^ Bradley M. Kuhn. "Project Harmony (and "Next Generation Contributor Agreements") Considered Harmful". Ebb.org. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  37. ^ "Software Freedom Conservancy Appoints Full-Time Executive Director". 4 October 2010.
  38. ^ "Kubuntu Won't be Switching to Mir or XMir". KDE. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  39. ^ a b Bodnar, Ladislav (1 July 2013). "Miscellaneous News". DistroWatch. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  40. ^ "Kubuntu plans to steer clear of Mir and switch to Wayland". H-online.com. 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  41. ^ "Ubuntu's Mir plans cause divisions". H-online.com. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  42. ^ Jono Bacon (22 August 2013). "Xubuntu team: No Mir for 13.10 « It's free". Open.knome.fi. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  43. ^ a b ajeans (7 August 2013). "Don't panic: the state of Xubuntu and Mir « It's free". Open.knome.fi. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  44. ^ "Xubuntu Developers Say No to XMir and Mir for 13.10 (Saucy Salamander)". News.softpedia.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  45. ^ August 05, 2013 (5 August 2013). "Xubuntu offers 13.10 ISO based on XMIR". Muktware. Retrieved 6 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ Intel (7 September 2013). "xf86-video-intel 2.99.902 snapshot". Chris Wilson. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  47. ^ Michael Larabel (7 September 2013). "Intel Reverts Plans, Will Not Support Ubuntu's XMir". Phoronix. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  48. ^ Brodkin, Jon (9 September 2013). "Intel rejection of Ubuntu's Mir patch forces Canonical to go own way". Ars Technica. Retrieved 3 November 2013.

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