Off topic question

Maybe someone can clue me in on something I don’t get. I’m wondering
how the X server can actually access the display hardware when it is
not setuid root. Nor is xinit. I’m using the frame buffer device (my
chipset not supported yet). It is chmod 600’d, owned by root. I don’t
see how a non-root account can launch an X server and have it put up a
display…

Sorry about being off topic…
-Dave

Maybe someone can clue me in on something I don’t get. I’m wondering
how the X server can actually access the display hardware when it is
not setuid root. Nor is xinit. I’m using the frame buffer device (my
chipset not supported yet). It is chmod 600’d, owned by root. I don’t
see how a non-root account can launch an X server and have it put up a
display…

Usually the X server XF86_SVGA (or something similar) is actually suid root.

BTW, the latest CVS snapshot has the feature that if you have read/write
access to /dev/mem, you don’t need to be root to use DGA graphics.
CAREFUL! This is a security risk – anyone with read/write access to
/dev/mem can do anything they want on your system, so only allow it to
people who you trust with root access.

-Sam Lantinga				(slouken at devolution.com)

Lead Programmer, Loki Entertainment Software–
“Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature”
– Rich Kulawiec