Subject: Re: Apollo keyboard, serial drivers (announce)
To: None <ignatios@cs.uni-bonn.de>
From: Gordon W. Ross <gwr@mc.com>
List: port-hp300
Date: 04/16/1997 10:01:31
> Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 15:33:28 +0200 (MET DST)
> From: Ignatios Souvatzis <ignatios@cs.uni-bonn.de>

> Ignatios Souvatzis wrote:
> > 
> > /dev/wskbd0: ok.
> > /dev/wsms0: is not universal.
> > 
> > I don't want the mouse driver to listen to all serial ports at half a
> > dozen bitrates and try to guess whether a serial mouse is connected,
> > and at what bitrate, and with what protocol.
> 
> ... so mandate that the mouse driver has to translate to a standard,
> arbitrary protocol.  Pick something like the Mouse Systems protocol
> (which is just nice because it's easy), and insist that everything
> else remassage its bits to comply.

Perhaps a "mouse" line discipline?  It could accept an ioctl to set
which protocol (Mouse-Systems, or MS-Mouse) and send up some standard
protocol to the reader.

As for choosing a standard protocol for the topside, I like the SunOS
"firm event" protocol, which can encode several types of events, and
offers the actual time the event occurred (often useful to have).

Gordon