21–30 of 70 posts
What does "in a TTY" context mean here? It doesn't mean in a terminal window, right?
Can someone explain what “the framebuffer” is? I’m familiar with OpenGL programming where the OS can provide a framebuffer for an application but I’m confused about whether there is a global framebuffer for the entire desktop. Is this a Linux specific concept?
In practice, it's not literally that, but in practice, it acts/works like that.
Can someone explain what “the framebuffer” is? I’m familiar with OpenGL programming where the OS can provide a framebuffer for an application but I’m confused about whether there is a global framebuffer for the entire desktop. Is this a Linux specific concept?
As far as I know, a framebuffer can mean a lot of things depending on hardware and implementation, but it was used to refer to actual memory that would contain pixel values that would eventually be written to the screen. In Linux, this is abstracted by the framebuffer device, which is hardware independent (you can actually have several fbdevices, which if I'm not mistaken end up referring to different monitors usuall…
My understanding is that modern hardware is significantly more complicated at the lowest levels and (at least generally) no longer has a dedicated framebuffer (at least in the same sense that old hardware did).
My understanding of the memory access provided by fbdev is that it's an extremely simple API. In other words an outdated abstraction that's still useful so it's kept around.
An example of this complexity is video streams utilizing hardware accelerated decoding. Those often won't show up in screenshots, or if they do they might be out of sync or otherwise not quite what you saw on screen because the driver is attempting to construct a single cohesive snapshot for you where one never actually existed in the first place.
If I got anything wrong please let me know. My familiarity generally stops at the level of the various cross platform APIs (opengl, vulkan, opencl, etc).
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As far as I know, a framebuffer can mean a lot of things depending on hardware and implementation, but it was used to refer to actual memory that would contain pixel values that would eventually be written to the screen. In Linux, this is abstracted by the framebuffer device, which is hardware independent (you can actually have several fbdevices, which if I'm not mistaken end up referring to different monitors usuall…
I'll preface this by saying that I may have some misconceptions. Other people much more knowledgeable than I am have posted summaries of how modern graphics hardware works on HN before. My understanding is that modern hardware is significantly more complicated at the lowest levels and (at least generally) no longer has a dedicated framebuffer (at least in the same sense that old hardware did). My understanding of the…
Modern hardware still generally can be put into a default VGA-compatible[1] mode that does use a dedicated framebuffer. This mode is used by the BIOS and during boot until the model-specific GPU driver takes over.
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> You can't, you don't have direct access to the framebuffer. Why is this the case? What would be the problem with allowing it?
It fits Apple's modus operandi to enforce things UI/UX wise, I assume in this case they don't want end-apps to be able to bypass the compositor (and e.g. prevent alerts from showing on the screen or whatnot). They used to allow it, but they removed the API after 10.6 https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Gr... I guess on modern macOS CGDisplayCapture() is the closest example that still works (alth…
The philosophy really creates a lot of problems that end up just frustrating users. It's a really lazy form of "security". Here's a simple example of annoyance: if I have private relay enabled, then turning on my VPN causes an alert (will not dismiss automatically). The same thing happens when I turn it off! It is a fine default, but why can't I decide I want to have automatically dismiss? This is such a silly thing to do considering I can turn off Private Relay, without any privileges, and without any notifications! NOTHING IS BEING SOLVED except annoying users... There's TONS of stupid little bugs that normal people just get used to but have no reason for existing (you can always identify an iPhone user because "i" is never capitalized...)
The philosophy only works if Apple is able to meet everybody's needs, but we're also talking about a company who took years to integrate a flashlight into their smartphone. It's okay that you can't create a perfect system. No one expects you to. It is also okay to set defaults and think about design, that's what people love you for (design). But none of this needs to come at a cost to "power users." I understand we're a small portion of users, but you need to understand that our efforts make your products better. Didn't see an issue with something? That's okay, you're not omniscient. But luckily there's millions of power users who will discover stuff and provide solutions. Even if these solutions are free, you still benefit! Because it makes peoples' experiences better! If it is a really good solution, you can directly integrate it into your product too! Everybody wins! Because designing computers is about designing an ecosystem. You design things people can build on top of! That's the whole fucking point of computers in the first place!
Get your head out of your ass and make awesome products!
[0] If any...
[another example]: Why is it that my Airpods can only connect to one device, constantly switching from my Macbook to iPhone. This often creates unnecessary notifications. I want magic with my headphones. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to be playing Spotify on my computer, walk away from it with my phone in pocket, and have the source switch to my phone. I can pick up my phone and manually change the source. But in reality what happens is I pick up my phone and Spotify pauses because my headphones switched to my iPhone... If you open up access then you bet these things will be solved. I know it means people might be able to then seamlessly switch from their Macbook to their Android, but come on, do you really think you're going to convert them by making their lives harder? Just wait till they try an iPhone! It isn't a good experience... I'm speaking from mine...
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>how to do fullscreen graphics on my Mac You can't, you don't have direct access to the framebuffer. Unless by "fullscreen" you just mean spanning from end-to-end in which case you can create an opengl or metal view and just set the fullscreen style mask.
> You can't, you don't have direct access to the framebuffer. Why is this the case? What would be the problem with allowing it?
All software/hardware in the system (Core Animation, Retina scaling, HDR, Apple Silicon's GPUs) assumes an isolated/composited display model. A model where a modern rendering pipeline is optional would add major complexity, and would also prevent Apple from freely evolving its hardware, system software, and developer APIs.
Additionally, a mandatory compositor blocks several classes of potential security threats, such as malware that could suppress or imitate system UI or silently spy on the user and their applications (at least without user permission).
Self-plug: last month I demoed [0] my own terminal. The goal is to dispense with traditional shells and see what happens. It generated quite a bit of hooplah, with a 50-50 split on how people felt about it.
I'll keep an eye on Fui; might come in handy for future Linux builds.
[0] https://terminal.click/posts/2025/04/the-wizard-and-his-shel...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>how to do fullscreen graphics on my Mac You can't, you don't have direct access to the framebuffer. Unless by "fullscreen" you just mean spanning from end-to-end in which case you can create an opengl or metal view and just set the fullscreen style mask.
> You can't, you don't have direct access to the framebuffer. Why is this the case? What would be the problem with allowing it?
For another, security. Your application doesn’t get to scrape other applications’ windows and doesn’t get to put stuff in them, and they don’t get to do that to yours, unless properly entitled & signed. You can self-sign for development but for distribution that ensures malware can be blocked by having its signature revoked.
It's so cool to see more terminal(-adjacent) experiments! We're overdue in evolving this space. Self-plug: last month I demoed [0] my own terminal. The goal is to dispense with traditional shells and see what happens. It generated quite a bit of hooplah, with a 50-50 split on how people felt about it. I'll keep an eye on Fui; might come in handy for future Linux builds. [0] https://terminal.click/posts/2025/04/the-wi…
It's so cool to see more terminal(-adjacent) experiments! We're overdue in evolving this space. Self-plug: last month I demoed [0] my own terminal. The goal is to dispense with traditional shells and see what happens. It generated quite a bit of hooplah, with a 50-50 split on how people felt about it. I'll keep an eye on Fui; might come in handy for future Linux builds. [0] https://terminal.click/posts/2025/04/the-wi…