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Personally, I see my laptop as a tool, and I have a day job. I don't want to spend my precious spare time fixing my tools, which for something as basic and ubiq

by acabal 6y ago

Personally, I see my laptop as a tool, and I have a day job. I don't want to spend my precious spare time fixing my tools, which for something as basic and ubiquitous as a trackpad should just work already. For how many decades have trackpads existed? Why are we still shipping broken trackpad experiences, and why is it me, the end user, who is being told that if I don't fix it myself then I don't care enough? In any case, a non-kernel developer fixing it in a day of coding is IMHO wildly unrealistic. While I have 20 years of programming experience, I have zero experience with kernel development--which some of the most complex software in existence--let alone input stack development. I don't even have the domain vocabulary to describe the problem. A lumberjack might know how to cut wood, but that doesn't automatically make him a carpenter.

Liskni_si 6y ago
> I don't want to spend my precious spare time fixing my tools… You get the entire GNU/Linux desktop for free, so you aren't in a position to complain. If you value your precious spare time, part with some of your money. Pay someone to fix this for you. Ask your employer to pay someone so that your "tool" works. Whatever. > In any case, a non-kernel developer fixing it in a day of coding is IMHO wildly unrealistic. Please... at least read the linked issue to see what the problem really is. This isn't kernel development. This is a userspace library, and the problem in question is isolated to a single C function that spans one or two screens. This really isn't rocket science. I wouldn't hesitate to ask students to fix an issue like this in a followup programming course.
- acabal 6y ago
  > You get the entire GNU/Linux desktop for free, so you aren't in a position to complain. I would buy that argument if we were talking about some new technology that still has some warts. But we're talking about trackpads here. Technology deployed on the scale of billions of units over many decades. At some point users must demand a basic standard of quality for technology that is not only old, but ubiquitous. If libinput shipped a version that randomly duplicated keystrokes on a keyboard, I'd be the one on the hook to fix it and I'm not allowed to complain because it's free? Really? > This isn't kernel development. This perfectly illustrates my point. My day job is not in this sector and I don't even know the right place to start looking. And I'm supposed to fix this in just a day, like any old amateur student supposedly could, otherwise it's my fault? Give me a break. Edit: In this very thread we have one user who submitted a kernel patch that possibly might solve this (but who knows), and another user who points to a year-old libinput bug that possibly might be what I'm talking about (but who knows). Not even the experts agree on where the problem even lies, but I'm supposed to fix it in a day. OK, right.

by acabal 6y ago

Liskni_si 6y ago

> I don't want to spend my precious spare time fixing my tools… You get the entire GNU/Linux desktop for free, so you aren't in a position to complain. If you value your precious spare time, part with some of your money. Pay someone to fix this for you. Ask your employer to pay someone so that your "tool" works. Whatever. > In any case, a non-kernel developer fixing it in a day of coding is IMHO wildly unrealistic. Please... at least read the linked issue to see what the problem really is. This isn't kernel development. This is a userspace library, and the problem in question is isolated to a single C function that spans one or two screens. This really isn't rocket science. I wouldn't hesitate to ask students to fix an issue like this in a followup programming course.

acabal 6y ago
> You get the entire GNU/Linux desktop for free, so you aren't in a position to complain. I would buy that argument if we were talking about some new technology that still has some warts. But we're talking about trackpads here. Technology deployed on the scale of billions of units over many decades. At some point users must demand a basic standard of quality for technology that is not only old, but ubiquitous. If libinput shipped a version that randomly duplicated keystrokes on a keyboard, I'd be the one on the hook to fix it and I'm not allowed to complain because it's free? Really? > This isn't kernel development. This perfectly illustrates my point. My day job is not in this sector and I don't even know the right place to start looking. And I'm supposed to fix this in just a day, like any old amateur student supposedly could, otherwise it's my fault? Give me a break. Edit: In this very thread we have one user who submitted a kernel patch that possibly might solve this (but who knows), and another user who points to a year-old libinput bug that possibly might be what I'm talking about (but who knows). Not even the experts agree on where the problem even lies, but I'm supposed to fix it in a day. OK, right.