Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1/2] input: CMA3000 Accelerometer driver)

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From: Alan Cox
Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 9:59 am

> > If non-input uses later need non-input interfaces they can switch to that

Probably because most of these devices have nothing to do with industrial
I/O at all.


That's not what I asked. 


That tends to make little sense where the API is the same and
applications benefit enormously from consistency. I'd rather have an
input->IIO bridge because that is the real world today !

The question is what does the API make *sense* for. Not what can you use
the API for. Unix (and Linux) are enormously powerful because of the use
of common interfaces and APIs.

So a voltmeter really makes no sense. It's not a set of keys and it
doesn't give X/Y/Z style readings. Nor does a camera. But a lot of things
do fit this to varying degrees.

I'm actually more dubious than Linus about ALS - because ALS tends not
produce 'events' but to be sampled, and there are significant power
implications to unnecessary polling.

See it as a curse of success - because you got the API right and made it
flexible people want to use it. And the more it's used the less special
code is needed in user or kernel space for PDAs and phones - instead they
just work.


It uses GPS and networking to stage an 'in real world' zombie dodging
game.

Alan
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Messages in current thread:
Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1/2] input: CMA3000 Accelerometer driver, Jonathan Cameron, (Fri May 21, 4:57 am)
Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1/2] input: CMA3000 Accelerometer driver, Dmitry Torokhov, (Sun Aug 29, 11:24 am)
Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1/2] input: CMA3000 Accelerometer driver, Dmitry Torokhov, (Sun Aug 29, 11:49 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Jonathan Cameron, (Mon Aug 30, 10:41 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Alan Cox, (Tue Aug 31, 9:59 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Mohamed Ikbel Boulabiar, (Tue Aug 31, 10:24 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Jonathan Cameron, (Tue Aug 31, 11:03 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Jonathan Cameron, (Tue Aug 31, 11:14 am)
Re: Sensors and the input layer (was Re: [RFC] [PATCH V2 1 ..., Jonathan Cameron, (Tue Aug 31, 11:20 am)