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Update shouldn't nuke XF86Config-4



Friends,

One of the most difficult things for someone to get right on a new Linux installation is the settings of the XF86Config-4 file.

Either the video doesn't work, or the mouse doesn't work, or both. Often it is troublesome for users to get it configured right, particularly novice users - on my first Linux installation, it took me weeks to change the screen resolution.

That's why, when you update the xserver-xfree86, you shouldn't overwrite the settings the user has laboured to create. They are precious.

I had a hard time getting the mouse to work on my PC, because it wasn't obvious I needed to use the MouseManPlusPS/2 protocol. Only after a lot of trial and error and digging through the doc did I finally get it right.

Imagine my suprise when I updated last night, then restarted X today only to find my mouse frozen!

I looked into my XF86Config-4 file, and the protocol had been changed to PS/2. But the update didn't take me through any manual config process, it just silently changed it!

Please please please don't mess with the existing config when performing an update. Maybe you could add new options, but don't change existing ones without asking.

This happened with a woody update last night. I know have xserver-xfree86 4.1.0-16, I'm not sure what I had before.

Best,

Michael D. Crawford
GoingWare Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting
http://www.goingware.com/
crawford@goingware.com

    Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow.


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