1 |
Hi, Gentoo! |
2 |
|
3 |
I've just got a sparkling new installation of Gentoo on my new PC. It |
4 |
only took me ~5 hours, mainly because I'd already configured the kernel |
5 |
in a trial run. :-) |
6 |
|
7 |
However, I'm now trying to get X up and running. "The X Server |
8 |
Configuration HOWTO", section 3. "Configuring Xorg" says: |
9 |
|
10 |
"Hal comes with many premade device rules, also called policies. |
11 |
These policy files are available in /usr/....../policy. Just find a |
12 |
few that suit your needs most closely and copy them to /etc/...." |
13 |
|
14 |
"For example, to get a basic working keyboard/mouse combination, you |
15 |
could copy the following files... |
16 |
/usr/.........../10-input-policy.fdi |
17 |
/usr/.........../10-x11-input.fdi" |
18 |
|
19 |
. Am I the only person that finds this semantic gibberish? Is there |
20 |
any explanation somewhere of what a "policy" aka "device rule" is? What |
21 |
is the semantic significance of a "device rule"? What does it mean, to |
22 |
"rule a device", or what sort of restrictions are being placed on this |
23 |
device? |
24 |
|
25 |
Given that one might desire a "basic working keyboard/mouse |
26 |
combination", what is the chain of reasoning that ends up selecting the |
27 |
file called "10-input-policy.fdi" from all the other ones? |
28 |
|
29 |
This file is an inpenetrable stanza of uncommented XML. Are its verbs |
30 |
documented somewhere? What do "<match ...>" and "<append ....>" mean, |
31 |
for example? |
32 |
|
33 |
Can this new-style fragmented XML configuration do anything that a good |
34 |
old-fashioned, human-readable and compact xorg.conf can't? If so, what? |
35 |
What am I missing here? |
36 |
|
37 |
Please, somebody, tell me all this HAL stuff is straightforwardly |
38 |
explained in an easily accessible Gentoo document, so that I can hang my |
39 |
head in shame and apologise for the noise! ;-) |
40 |
|
41 |
-- |
42 |
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany). |