Is udev really 'optional'?

["Patrick Wiseman" <pwiseman@gmail.com>]

Hello:

Having read of people having so much difficulty with it, I've been
avoiding udev and sticking with hotplug, which seems to work just fine
for me.  (I assume it  _needed_ replacing for some reason?)

Being on a laptop, I really need the functionality.  Am I going to
have to give up the hotplug package or will it continue to be an
alternative to udev?

Patrick