#1 2016-01-07 00:11:45

Horizon_Brave

Operating System: Linux-Nettrix

Registered: 2015-10-18

Posts: 1,473

X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

Hey folks,

So I was reading about nvidia graphics options and I noticed that often it references xorg.conf file existing. Of course in our B.L world, we don't have this one big Xorg file, we have our split up into multiple files in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/  with all of them having the two digit prefixes that are read in order of number.

So me questions be thus... Is there a reason for this and not using the one big mono file of xorg.conf? And I don't just mean specifically for this case. In general is it better practice to have multiple configuration files, or one big conf. file?  Why is it that the poor xorg.conf has been abandoned?

As always, thanks ahead of time...

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damo

....moderator....

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 6,734

Re: X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

My understanding is that it is easier to manage multiple small files (which are equivalent to individual `xorg.conf` entries): vendor and user settings can go in the various `xorg.conf.d/` locations. The sections are strung together depending on their precedence.

As always, checkout the manpages:

man xorg.conf

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johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,668

Website

Re: X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

This was a change that xorg made a while ago. (not BL particularly)
It will still read xorg.conf if there is one, but doesn't make one by default.

Multiple small files in a something.d directory are handy if different packages want to tweak the settings of something without having to overwrite a file belonging to some other package.

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pvsage

Internal Affairs

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 1,433

Re: X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

From what I've read at the Debian wiki about proprietary Nvidia and AMD video drivers, the separate xorg.conf.d/ files is considered "The Debian Way" now.  Makes sense to me if you have multiple pieces of hardware from different vendors that might need special handling from Xorg.

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Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2015-09-29

Posts: 9,093

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Re: X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

The old xorg.conf was used back in the Good Old Days before the X server autoconfigured and all the ancillaries (keyboard, screen, mouse, etc) had to be specifically and exactly configured by the user.

Now that the X server will set everything up by itself in most cases, the preference is to place override files in /etc/xorg.conf.d

As damo & johnraff say, the separate files are easier to manage without opening $EDITOR

The traditional /etc/xorg.conf file will still be parsed, see xorg.conf(5)

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johnraff

nullglob

From: Nagoya, Japan

Registered: 2015-09-09

Posts: 12,668

Website

Re: X Config Files. Monolithic or Separated?

(Also Debian packages are not allowed to mess with each other's files.)

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