Re: Supporting multiple keyboard

[Steffen S. <s.s...@ph...>]

James Simmons wrote:
 
> > On another note, I think you should definately not change the semantics of
> > the console switching behaviour. This is used by other operating systems too,
> > so if you break this, you will make Linux incompatible with quite some
> > applications. (See the VT-switch handling code in the X server, as a reference).
> 
> We will keep it until the end of the developement cycle for 2.5.X. Hopefully
> the X servers will be updated by then.

What about the non-XFree based servers out there? MetroX, AcceleratedX, etc?
You don't want to tell me you want to break them with 2.6, do you?

> One it's a bad design.

You can have a better, extendable design thats compatible with it. See
KGI-0.9 for reference.

> Two linux is moving in a different direction than other UNIX OSes.

If breaking compatibility with other UNIX environments is a result of
this move, I will quickly loose interest in Linux.

> It's would be a mess to support the standard method and multihead at
> the same time.

That's not true. KGI does allow for multihead and the 'standard' method
at the same time, and I would not call it a mess. This code is not
easy to understand, yes, but that's inherent to the subject, not a
particular issue of the approach.

If XFree would not try to boot every graphics card it finds messing with
PCI configuration space etc, this could be demonstrated IRL.

> Their is already code in the X servers that is linux specific.

I don't question that.

> Adding the input interface will add more. Using the input layer works
> more toward how X is designed.

Sure, that's my opinion too.

> X also see every device including the keyboard as a input device.
> I have been looking at the X server design to work in the input stuff.

But I am not talking about the input stuff here. I am talking about changing
the semantics of the console switching protocol that would break all Xservers
out there for Linux, not to speak of other applications.

I had taken out the console switching stuff when developing early KGI versions,
and I can only request you to think well before you make this move.

			Steffen

_______________________________________________________________________________
Steffen Seeger                              mailto:se...@ph...