Subject: Re: Toshiba Portege 3010 pointing device problem w/i386 1.3I snapshot (19981207)
To: None <sommerfeld@orchard.arlington.ma.us>
From: None <Havard.Eidnes@runit.sintef.no>
List: port-i386
Date: 01/02/1999 00:43:12
> For reasons unclear to me, the pms driver speaks the "busmouse"
> protocol to user space.

I think the rationale at one point was that the kernel should
provide a uniform interface to such things as mice, so that user
programs do not have to worry about different mouse protocols.

In general the only program which cares is the X server, and due
to other systems, the X server has to care on those platforms
anyway, so it does not usually result in any savings code-
complexity-wise.

For folks coming from Linux and/or FreeBSD (or other places,
even) this seems to be a fairly constant source of confusion,
even though this particular question is also answered in one of
the NetBSD FAQ entries on the NetBSD web site.

I think that the general opinion of whether this still is a good
idea may have changed since the decision was first made, but note
that that's just my personal perception from seeing the comments
made whenever this issue comes up.

- H=E5vard