Re: Switching to 2.4.12 found ADB keycodes (long)

[Michel Dänzer <daenzer@debian.org>]

Chris, a very good summary, thanks! A few minor comments:

On Sat, 2001-11-24 at 16:16, Chris Tillman wrote:

> Here's what happened: to pull powerpc into the linux mainstream and
> eliminate present and future conflicts, woody's console-data package
> was changed to install linux keycode maps instead of ADB keycode maps
> (which used to be the norm for powerpc kernels).

The ADB keymaps are still there for those who know what they're doing,
but only those for Linux keycodes are presented in the arch list and
officially supported.

> The installation system's kernel was changed to follow that path, so
> the new installation kernel uses linux keycodes, not ADB
> keycodes. That is a permanent change; a kernel compiled without
> support for ADB keycodes is unable to use ADB keymaps. All kernels are
> able to use linux keycodes - it's 'native'.

That's not entirely correct. Linux keycodes are a feature of the 'New
Input Layer', which is set to become the standard for all input devices
on all architectures during 2.5, but so far it's only used for some
devices on some architectures.


I have a few ideas to further reduce the potential for breakage:

- include keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes=1 in default and example yaboot
  configs, in particular the one generated during installation

- show the debconf warning at least once, even if the user is already
  using Linux keycodes. That way she should learn how to avoid falling
  back to ADB keycodes.


Looking forward to comments,


-- 
Earthling Michel Dänzer (MrCooper)/ Debian GNU/Linux (powerpc) developer
XFree86 and DRI project member   /  CS student, Free Software enthusiast