• tool@r.rosettast0ned.com
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    1 year ago

    and how hard it was to get x11 working

    Oh good God. If you really want to test someone’s resolve, sit them down at an old computer with a CRT and no Internet and have them configure X11 from scratch. Seeing that default X11 crosshatch background for the first time was practically orgasmic after the bullshit I went through to make it work.

    That’s one of those traumatizing experiences I’d completely blocked from my memory until I read your comment.

    Traumatizing experience #2 that just came back to me was getting a winmodem working and connected to my ISP via minicom.

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Didn’t do winmodems, that would be a nightmare.

      I can’t remember how long it was until xf86config made things slightly easier, yeah, getting modelines at first was basically impossible, I think it was trial and error for hours at least.

      • tool@r.rosettast0ned.com
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        1 year ago

        I don’t think it became easier at all until it was forked off into Xorg and they started making dramatic improvements.

        I think it was trial and error for hours at least.

        It certainly was until I discovered the monitor I hadn’t fried had the modelines printed on a sticker on the back…

        • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You are so damn lucky. I just took the safe ones, and pushed them until it looked good but the monitor’s whine wasn’t too scary.

          Fucking dark ages…

          Xorg was a massive improvement, still bad, but less insane.