Bug#255744: xfree86-common: Mouse not found causes gdm to fail -- this *is* annoying

[Michel Dänzer <daenzer@debian.org>]

On Thu, 2005-10-20 at 12:41 +0200, January Weiner wrote: 
> 
> > If the device node doesn't exist, it's probably a matter of making sure 
> > that the backing kernel module (mousedev IIRC) is loaded.
> 
> This is what has been suggested by previous posters to this bug, and
> which should be done, and which has not been done, and which is the
> reason why I am writing this rant.

It's none of the X server's business though.


> Should I repost the bug to another package?

IMHO yes. As David pointed out, the only 'bug' in the X server is that
it doesn't support hotplugging input devices yet, but that's an upstream
wishlist item that won't be resolved anytime soon. AFAICT the most
effective approaches to resolve this are:

      * In the 2.6.12-1-powerpc kernel I'm running, the support
        for /dev/input/mice seems to be built into the kernel in the
        first place, avoiding the problem of when and how to load the
        module. You could ask for the same to be done for the kernel
        you're running.
      * You could ask for the udev and/or hotplug packages to load the
        corresponding module by default on bootup, regardless of whether
        or not a mouse is connected.

Either of these has the advantage that even without explicit hotplugging
support in the X server, you can plug in a mouse after the X server is
already running, and it Just Works(TM). This isn't true if the X server
just ignores the failure to open the mouse device.


-- 
Earthling Michel Dänzer      |     Debian (powerpc), X and DRI developer
Libre software enthusiast    |   http://svcs.affero.net/rm.php?r=daenzer