[Pkg-directfb-devel] Bug#627651: Please don't use obsolete libsysfs-dev any more

[Martin Pitt]

Package: directfb
Version: 1.4.3-1
User: mpitt at debian.org
Usertags: libsysfs-deprecation

Hello,

Some years ago libsysfs (source package: sysfsutils) was written as an
abstraction layer for accessing /sys/. However, this turned out to be
a historical error and evolutionary dead end: It does not actually
abstract anything (it's just as specific to the Linux kernel and a
particular version thereof as /sys itself), and just adds unnecessary
complexity, RAM overhead, and bugs. Thus its development has ceased
years ago, in favor of programs just using /sys as it is.

In fact, most applications probably don't want to access /sys at all,
but use libudev [1] or gudev [2] instead. These provide a better API
for device enumeration, properties, and callbacks for hardware
changes.

This package is one of the few which still use the old libsysfs. Can
you please check with upstream to prepare a migration away from
libsysfs to using plain /sys or libudev? I hope that we can drop the
old libsysfs entirely for wheezy.

Thank you for considering!

Martin

[1] http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/libudev/
[2] http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/gudev/
-- 
Martin Pitt                        | http://www.piware.de
Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com)  | Debian Developer  (www.debian.org)
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