Re: [gentoo-user] Re: How to configure thochpad sensitivity (using hal)?

[Dale]

Alan McKinnon wrote:
> Apparently, though unproven, at 00:56 on Tuesday 16 November 2010, Dale did
> opine thusly:
>
>
>> Actually, it rendered mine broken and not usable.  If upstream walks off
>> the edge of a cliff, does Gentoo follow upstream then?  What would have
>> been nice is if Gentoo would have at least made it something that the
>> user has to chose to do pro-actively and not the default.  If they had
>> done that, for say six months or more, then the devs would have been
>> able to see the disaster and left it off by default.  Actually, they may
>> could have even seen that it wasn't going to last at all and then not
>> ever have a user using it unless they chose too and enabled it
>> themselves.  It's not like hal lasted for many years as a "stable" project.
>>
> Actually it did last many years as a stable project. A very very very early
> ubuntu was the first to start using it. That gives it about 3 to 4 years or so
> - a long time in the software world.
>
> In relation to the total number of Gentoo users, the number affected by HAL
> was small indeed. I myself had no ill-effects across several machines (other
> than XML-induced frustration).
>
> Your experience, though painful, was not the norm. Sometimes devs have to make
> hard decisions, like break a small number of user's configs. At least they
> gave you a flag you could use. Once it was evident that HAL was a total POS,
> they have another hard decision: revert to no-HAL? What will that break? How
> many unknown setups out there that are the opposite of Dale? What about the
> next version of X.org that will not support HAL? Do they arbitrarily revert
> the default to sans-HAL only to make it something else next verion? That may
> piss off a lot of users.
>
>
>> I generally trust the devs.  I did when I let hal take over the config
>> of X since it was the new way of doing things.  You think I feel the
>> same way now?
>>
> I think you are colouring the whole canvas with your own singular experience.
> One mis-judgement does not make a wreaked ecosystem, and shit does happen.
> SOmetimes in this world you're the hammer, sometimes the nail. You were the
> nail.
>
> I don't disagree that HAL is an utter POS. I just don't agree with your
> reasoning that brought you personally to that conclusion.
>
>
>

When it happens to me, I do take it seriously and I give it a lot of 
thought on future changes.  After having this rig about 7 or 8 years, 
hal is the only reason I have ever had to pull the plug out of the 
wall.  That is what I base my conclusion on because that is what 
happened to me here.  Yea, it worked for a lot of people but it left me 
with a mess.

Maybe everyone that hal worked well for still has that trust.  Thing is, 
it didn't here.  I lost a little of that trust.  Some of the reasoning 
behind this may have a lot to do with my health situation.  I don't 
trust Drs to much either.  They are the reason I am where I am and I 
wish I hadn't trusted them oh so many years ago.  I like to belive that 
people will do the right thing but it appears that depends on the 
situation.  I just got a mess out of them both.  Seems to happen a lot.

What's the old saying:  If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any 
luck at all.

Dale

:-)  :-)