New phase in X server evolution

For a while Novell seemed to head for the open source community doghouse, for working on the new X standard (Xgl) behind closed doors. They have also been developing a new window and composition manager called Combiz. Well, both of these products have now been released into Xorg repositories. So all is well. Is it? There are two issues that this has raised. One is the new wave of standard in-fighting that we are seemingly face. This is because as soon as the community accepted Novell's Xgl (or Xegl - OpenGL version) as the future for X11, Red Hat put the spanner in the works by promoting an alternative: aiglx (accelerated indirect GL X. Red Hat's argument would be sound - both Xgl and Xegl are brand new solutions, which would require a lot of work on the part of driver creators, whereas aiglx is just an extension to the existing X server standard. Hmmm. Here we go again... The other issue that occurred to me is more of the philosophical nature. It refers to the reasoning Novell offered in defense of the 'keep it behind the closed door' approach to the design. The "design by committee" concept is what most companies face, and have to deal with. Novell chose to go against the politically correct community involvement in the early stages of planning, spec'ing and designing. They are being slagged for it, but should they really. For one, I fully agree with Dan Winship's reasoning...

See: http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2006-February/msg00115.html .