Synaptics MIT license finally possible

[Paul Vojta]

On Wed, Jul 25, 2007 at 06:57:35AM +0200, Stefan Kombrink wrote:
> Hi Paul,
> 
>  okay, I had a look at the code.
> Driver access seems to be very clean and easy, congratulations :)
> Less features doesn't matter to me as long as the access can be done cleanly.
> How difficult would it be to make it run under a common 2.6 kernel?

I've already done a lot of the work (on a separate program that I use for
testing).  The only thing holding me back right now is that currently my
driver relies on the fact that the touchpad sends dummy packets for a
time after you have moved your hand away from the pad or released a button.
This allows one to use those packets for timing purposes.  The Linux kernel
thoughtfully suppresses those packets, so I need to use timer calls instead.

> Do you know how rights management is done? Is it possible to restrict which 
> groups are allowed to access the SynapticsDriver Extension?

I don't know much about rights management.  In order to access an extension
you have to have an X connection, and there are ways to restrict which users
can connect.  That's the only restriction in place right now.  However, if
someone can connect to your server, then they can clear your screen, etc.,
so I don't see any access issues with the extension that you wouldn't also
want to apply to X connections in general.

> I expect far less problems than with the current driver and hope it will be a 
> success!!

Thanks.

--Paul