I'm familiar with the BIOS issue, the devtree work is an interesting response to that. I wonder if they are waiting for 14.04 so that they can use Mir as the compositing platform.
As for protocols, good question. I see the streaming protocols which work reasonably well, I keep hoping for something like the DisplayLink protocol over ethernet with say WPA2, basically "connect" have it show up as a frame buffer to your client. Then some software on the stick so that you could slide back and forth to different "screens" ala the Amiga with each one being connected to a different device. But that is just speculating on what might be possible.
As for protocols, good question. I see the streaming protocols which work reasonably well, I keep hoping for something like the DisplayLink protocol over ethernet with say WPA2, basically "connect" have it show up as a frame buffer to your client. Then some software on the stick so that you could slide back and forth to different "screens" ala the Amiga with each one being connected to a different device. But that is just speculating on what might be possible.