Re: [gentoo-user] Devicekit - especially just for Dale

[Dale]

Paul Hartman wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:30 PM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>
>> Alan McKinnon wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday 18 January 2010 18:26:21 Mike Edenfield wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>> +1 I do OK with plain text but no clue on the new xml stuff. Why not
>>>>> just keep it simple? Is xml REALLY needed?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> XML allows you to generate complex, structured, hierarchical data that
>>>> can be read, changed, and stored by well-tested third party libraries that
>>>> don't need to know anything about the contents or meaning of your
>>>> configuration data beforehand.  This means I, as a developer, don't need to
>>>> write any code to read and parse configurations, validate the syntax or
>>>> structure (only the content), or persist it back out.
>>>>
>>>> In simpler terms: less time spent on the configuration parser, more time
>>>> spent being productive.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Just as code is read many more times than it is written, so is a package
>>> configured by the end user many more times than the config parser studied by
>>> the developer.
>>>
>>> Your post makes sense until you realise that the use of XML in a
>>> configuration designed to be changed by the user renders the package
>>> virtually unusable. Given a choice between me as a developer struggling with
>>> a config parser versus vast swathes of users dumping the package because of
>>> the same parser, I'd say it's me that has to work harder, not my users.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> I'll add this, if devicekit uses xml and doesn't work "out of the box," as
>> in me not having to config the thing, then it is no better than hal.  It may
>> be that if I could do xml that I could have gotten hal to work.  Thing is, I
>> can't do xml at the time.  I suspect that I am not alone on this.
>>
>> So, it is possible that hal was doomed by xml for me at least.  If devicekit
>> uses it, then it may get masked as well.  Sounds like devicekit needs to be
>> really good.  I'm sort of hooked on a working keyboard and a mouse for some
>> reason.  Call me silly but they sort of make the puter work.
>>
>
> Well I think that if everything works as it is designed to you
> shouldn't really need to be editing those XML files in the first
> place. I think you're supposed to be able to do all of the relevant
> config settings in your desktop environment such as Gnome or KDE (if
> you use one). Like setting keyboard mappings, fonts, mouse config,
> screen resolution, etc.  The usual stuff that used to go in xorg.conf.
>
> Of course, if your keyboard mapping is wrong and you can't even log-in
> to the DE in the first place then configuring it through there will
> probably be difficult... :)   And if you don't use Gnome or KDE then
> it can get interesting, too...
>
>

That was my problem, no keyboard or mouse.  Sort of hard to do much in 
that situation. 

Dale

:-) :-)