Re: Bug#185450: missing virtual terminal ioctl's

[Marcus Brinkmann]

On Wed, Mar 19, 2003 at 10:14:47PM +0100, Robert Millan wrote:
> > > > This bug is a will-not-fix or a non-bug.  See also the savannah task
> > > > database, I am sure I have one open for that.
> 
> I can't see an item in Console's task sublist:
> 
> http://savannah.gnu.org/pm/task.php?group_project_id=483&group_id=30&func=browse

Sorry for that, I really thought I had put it in there.
 
> > That's what I keep saying :)
> > 
> > It needs to be cooperative, but it can be simple.  It also can assume trust
> > between the communication partners (ie proper behaviour).
> 
> I don't see the whole picture. how are the console client and X server
> accessing the keyboard and screen resources Mach provides?

The VGA card is accessed directly.  Just look into the code it's right
there.  (hurd/console-client/vga-hw.c for example).

The keyboard is accessed directly, too.  There is a simple driver in the
kernel though so the interrupt handling is done inside the kernel.

The mouse would be accessed directly, too, like the keyboard (for PS/2), or
via the com device (for serial mouse).  I was thinking that for the mouse
the console client should probably act as a repeater like gpm can do it.

> if someone is
> to coordinate their resource use, seems cleaner if it's the same folk
> who provides the resources.

No, they access it directly and must negotiate about releasing resources
before the other can grab them.  For the mouse, I think that maybe it should
be different.  Oh, maybe for the keyboard as well.  But you can not
reasonably have display device access through a proxy, except if you are
going to write a framebuffer device, and then still you are going to want
something better for direct rendering etc.

Thanks,
Marcus


-- 
`Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' GNU      http://www.gnu.org    marcus@gnu.org
Marcus Brinkmann              The Hurd http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/
Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
http://www.marcus-brinkmann.de/