Standardised Hardware Support Spec - Please Review

[Alex Jones]

On Thu, 2007-04-05 at 21:39 +0100, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 05, 2007 at 09:24:19PM +0100, Alex Jones wrote:
> > (As a side thought, I'm not sure what constitutes "common" hardware, but
> > I for one don't know a single person who owns a Palm device.)
> 
> I can see two or three Treos from here.  Whether they work with gnome-pilot
> is another story, but if gnome-pilot doesn't work with a significant share
> of current devices, the solution would be to remove it from the default
> install, not add a new application to help the user remove it.

You wouldn't necessarily /need/ a new application to help the user
remove it if it was packaged like I am suggesting. You'd remove the HSP
and the installed and unneeded support packages could be apt-get
autoremove'd. Sorted. As it happens, all of this stuff is just
dependency of ubuntu-desktop, meaning that it all gets reinstalled every
time I do a distribution upgrade. *Groan*.

I've noticed that in my restricted drivers manager, it has chosen to
install "Lucent/Agere lindmodem controller driver". I didn't even think
I had a modem, and even if I did, I certainly have zero use for it.
What's the point in knowingly "infecting" my system with closed-source
kernel modules when you don't even know if I want it?