docs: Improve the 'Types of Compositors' section

Turn the bullet-point lists into full paragraphs.
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Matthias Clasen 2013-03-30 01:11:29 -04:00 committed by Kristian Høgsberg
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]>
<chapter id="chap-Compositors">
<title>Types of Compositors</title>
<para>
Compositors come in different types, depending on which
role they play in the overall architecture of the OS.
</para>
<section id="sect-Compositors-System-Compositor">
<title>System Compositor</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
ties in with graphical boot
A system compositor can run from early boot until shutdown.
It effectively replaces the kernel vt system, and can tie in
with the systems graphical boot setup and multiseat support.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
hosts different types of session compositors
A system compositor can host different types of session
compositors, and let us switch between multiple sessions
(fast user switching, or secure/personal desktop switching).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
lets us switch between multiple sessions (fast user switching,
secure/personal desktop switching)
A linux implementation of a system compositor will typically
use libudev, egl, kms, evdev and cairo.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
multiseat
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
linux implementation using libudev, egl, kms, evdev, cairo
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
for fullscreen clients, the system compositor can reprogram the
video scanout address to source from the client provided buffer.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
For fullscreen clients, the system compositor can reprogram the
video scanout address to read directly from the client provided
buffer.
</para>
</section>
<section id="sect-Compositors-Session-Compositor">
<title>Session Compositor</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
nested under the system compositor. nesting is feasible because
protocol is async, roundtrip would break nesting
A session compositor is responsible for a single user session.
If a system compositor is present, the session compositor will
run nested under the system compositor. Nesting is feasible because
the protocol is asynchronous; roundtrips would be too expensive
when nesting is involved. If no system compositor is present, a
session compositor can run directly on the hw.
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
X applications can continue working under a session compositor
by means of a root less X server that is activated on demand.
</para>
<para>
Possible examples for session compositors include
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
gnome-shell
@ -66,17 +62,12 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
compiz?
kwin
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
kde compositor?
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
text mode using vte
kmscon
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@ -89,29 +80,17 @@
fullscreen X session under wayland
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
can run without system compositor, on the hw where it makes
sense
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
root window less X server, bridging X windows into a wayland
session compositor
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</section>
<section id="sect-Compositors-Embedding-Compositor">
<title>Embedding Compositor</title>
<para>
X11 lets clients embed windows from other clients, or lets client copy
pixmap contents rendered by another client into their window. This is
often used for applets in a panel, browser plugins and similar.
X11 lets clients embed windows from other clients, or lets clients
copy pixmap contents rendered by another client into their window.
This is often used for applets in a panel, browser plugins and similar.
Wayland doesn't directly allow this, but clients can communicate GEM
buffer names out-of-band, for example, using d-bus or as command line
buffer names out-of-band, for example, using D-Bus, or command line
arguments when the panel launches the applet. Another option is to
use a nested wayland instance. For this, the wayland server will have
to be a library that the host application links to. The host
@ -125,14 +104,8 @@
application.
</para>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
firefox embedding flash by being a special purpose compositor to
the plugin
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
An example for this kind of setup is firefox embedding the flash
player as a kind of special-purpose compositor.
</para>
</section>
</chapter>