Re: kbd.diff (X loses keyboard on trivial operation)

[Marcus Brinkmann]

On Mon, Nov 04, 2002 at 09:06:45PM -0500, Roland McGrath wrote:
> streamio is a generic translator with no device-specific knowledge.  In the
> absence of a clean infrastructure of some kind, I think we would rather
> leave it that way than have any special hacks for kbd/mouse in it.

I agree.  It would be cleaner to have a libchannel that allows dynamic
modules and make streamio use that.  Then we can write modules for whatever
special cases we need (not specifically kbd or mouse).
 
> I think that the cases of kbd and mouse should be addressed through work on
> the new console server.  Things like X should ultimately access all input
> their input sources via virtual devices provided by the console server, so
> that all those input devices are cleanly included in a virtual console
> switch.  The server is already structured around this idea, though Marcus
> will have to fill you in on more of the details of where the needed pieces
> fit into that code.  The work that's needed is on two fronts: the console
> server's virtual device interface for the mouse and for raw kbd use; and
> the console client's input drivers for the real keyboard and mouse hardware.

I don't actually think the console server has anything to do with it.  The
burden is all entirely on the vga+pckbd client, because it is the client and
X which share the hardware.  The console client could provide an osmouse and
a raw kbd repeater device, the former is similar to the repeater in gpm, for
example.  This should fit in very well into the overall design.  I am
thinking of something like this:

./console-client -d vga --repeat /dev/mouse -d pc_kbd --repeat /dev/kbd -d 
generic_speaker 

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/