Package: lirc Version: 0.9.0~pre1-1.2 Current lirc version installs an udev rule which restarts the lirc service when a new /dev/lirc? device is created by udev. The purpose is to relieve the user from restarting lirc when a new device is hotplugged. However, the solution has several drawbacks:
- It puts too much focus on the /dev/lirc? devices. While an important usecase, lirc uses a multitude of drivers and input devices. From 0.9.4 the default device is the first available /dev/input one. That lirc restarts in one case and not the other is confusing. - The feature is not documented, neither in upstream nor downstream docs. - The feature is not acceptable upstream. - The feature interferes with the carefully designed current lirc startup based on socket activation since the udev rile will fire and restart lirc on every startup where there is a /dev/lirc? device present. - The feature is known to have caused hard-to-debug problems. - As stated in the udev rule, the feature breaks as soon as there is more than one /dev/lirc? device. To configure lirc is actually not always easy. IMHO, this feature makes it even harder due to it's non-logical behaviour and should be removed. That said, there is no point touching existing, working installations. Also, the rule could be included as a template users might want to try in specific configurations. Hotplugging support in LIRC is an important task, however much more complicated than this kind of udev rule. It is tracked in upstream bug #37, our oldest open bug. --alec leamas