Re: NetBSD graphics stack [WAS: Re: Internet services and US vs EU jurisdiction]

[tlaronde%kergis.com@localhost]

Hello,

I'm currently moving so please forgive the delayed and top answer.

KerTeX is a distribution of the core---the kernel---providing an engine that is an extension of TeX, compatible with TeX, with e-TeX and providing supplementary primitives needed now by LaTeX.

It is near tetex in terms of size (you have less than 10MB to download and even on a slow machine, it takes only a few minutes to compile and install). But it is more general that tetex (it can virtually compile and install anywhere if the system provides a libc, a POSIX make and a POSIX sh). It runs on all the BSD, all the Linuces, on Android and on Plan9.

LaTeX is just a huge set of macro. LaTeX can be installed on kerTeX via a "recipe"---kerTeX own packaging system.

kerTeX is hosted: once installed on a host, the packages are kerTeX sole concern. So there is only one "recipe" to install a given package wherever kerTeX is installed.

Concerning DVI, DVI is for the moment a byte file of opcodes (256, not all codes used) to draw a series of pages. One could add other code pages (256 chunks) with extension allowing also to link some areas to some actions. And the interpreter could ignore some pages of code (for security purposes).


-----Message original-----
De: Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult <info%metux.net@localhost>
à: tlaronde <tlaronde%kergis.com@localhost>; Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult <info%metux.net@localhost>
Cc: Sad Clouds <cryintothebluesky%gmail.com@localhost>; Julian H. Stacey <jhs%berklix.eu@localhost>; netbsd-users <netbsd-users%netbsd.org@localhost>
Envoyé: jeudi 28 mai 2026 06:53 GMT
Sujet : Re: NetBSD graphics stack [WAS: Re: Internet services and US vs EU jurisdiction]


On 2/17/26 16:26, tlaronde%kergis.com@localhost wrote:

>> By "DRM" you mean direct rendering manager or digital restriction management
>> ?
>>
> 
> Direct Rendering Manager (

good :)

> I have crossed your messages when working initially on X11 modules in
> the Xorg distribution and it is sure for me that NetBSD and others
> have to worry about the X11 stuff because I guess Oracle will
> eventually pull the plug (the most active still present developers for
> userland X11 are, if I'm not mistaken, Oracle's employees).

You mean things like Xlib et al ?
We're ready fork any second, when that becomes necessary.

> I'm the developer of kerTeX, a distribution of TeX and al. 

Oh, cool. How does it relate to LaTeX / tetex ?
Is it compatible ? (doing lots of docs with it)

> What people
> generally don't know is that METAFONT is a rasterizer. This does mean
> that for 2D stuff, one has with TeX and al. almost already everything
> to go from graphical primitives, including glyphes, to a rasterized
> image.

Yeah. I've actually thought of adding something like that as an X11
extension. The idea is uploading meta-graphics as resources, which then
can be used as replacement for pixmaps or render-pics (eg. also as
window background) - and the server then will render it automatically
when needed.

> My plan is to go the fullway with what I have already, extending DVI
> to add some things that will make the format more self sufficient and
> borrowing the rasterization routines from METAFONT to go from static
> pages described in DVI to raster images.

Uh. Sounds like a cool idea.

> The plan is also to make the DVI format GUI usable for an interface
> description.

DVI for GUIs ? Hmm, do you mean just the layouting or even active
elements like widgets ?


--mtx
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Enrico Weigelt, metux IT consult
Free software and Linux embedded engineering
info%metux.net@localhost -- +49-151-27565287