The xf86-video-ati is a "meta" driver - it includes xf86-video-radeon along with drivers that support the older ati "rage" chipsets.
You have many options with NetBSD - Versions 5.2, 6.0.1 and 6.1 are all currently supported. Additionally the installations come with a monolithic X and with each version you can choose not to install the monolithic X and instead install a modular xorg.
All this can be confusing and when the vagaries or hardware support are mixed in - daunting. It also means the the NetBSD community has its efforts widely spread on many fronts.
I would actually recommend that you try OpenBSD. There is just one X-window install option and the community has focused on making that work. Additionally, the trackpad will be easier to implement. To fully support trackpads in NetBSD you have to compile a custom kernel. Trackpads are more fully supported out of the box in OpenBSD.
|