Chapter 2. How to Obtain LCDproc

2.1. Versioning

At the time of writing there were four versions of LCDproc floating around on the Internet.

LCDproc 0.4.1

LCDproc 0.4.1 was the last "stable" release of LCDproc. It still uses the old command line configuration.

Warning

There are known security problems with LCDproc 0.4.1. A remote exploit is possible. An attacker can make use of some buffer-overflows in the client communication code of LCDd, in order to get root access to your system. Therefore running LCDproc 0.4.1 is NOT RECOMMENDED!

LCDproc 0.4.2

LCDproc 0.4.2 was meant to be the next stable release of LCDproc. As 0.4.1 it uses the old command line configuration.

Note

The known issues about 0.4.1 had been fixed. Unfortunately the guy who had the last pending patches on his box kind of "vanished" from the LCDproc mailing list. Of course you can get 0.4.2 from CVS. BUT its current state is unknown.

LCDproc 0.4.3

LCDproc 0.4.3 is the current stable release of LCDproc. It no longer uses the old command line configuration, but introduces the configuration file /etc/LCDd.conf. As well the driver API has slightly changed, which should not make older drivers incompatible, but might cause some trouble. As well the way LCDd reports messages (including error messages) has changed.

Note

Even though LCDproc 0.4.3 is the most stable version we can offer, it is still not perfect.

LCDproc 0.4.4

LCDproc 0.4.4 will be the next stable release of LCDproc.

Note

The 0.4.x branch will only be slightly updated. E.g. we plan better support of lcdproc (the client) for *BSD. Yet, the active development will move to 0.5 now.

As 0.5 will not be stable in the near future, we may also work on porting drivers from 0.4.1 to 0.4.4 on demand. We do not have all the hardware LCDd supports. So, we only work on drivers that can be tested by YOU.

As well, the development and inclusion of new drivers is possible.

LCDproc 0.5

LCDproc 0.5 is the developement version of LCDproc. Everything is possible ;) Drivers can already be loaded at runtime. We will also work on client supplied menus and other nifty stuff.

Warning

From time to time LCDproc 0.5 might not even compile due to drastic changes. You have been warned!

Furthermore older drivers will NOT work with LCDproc 0.5 AT ALL! Feel free to port a driver that has not been ported to 0.5 yet ;)