Linus Torvalds wavers, pauses … then gives the world Linux 4.5

Version 4.5 of the Linux kernel has been loosed upon a waiting world. This release nearly didn't make it: Linux lord Linus Torvalds writes that he came close to ordering an eighth release candidate, as “We did have one nasty regression that got fixed yesterday [Sunday - Ed], and the networking pull early in the week was larger …

[Anonymous Coward]

PS/2 Mice

Linux often caters to esoteric tastes, which is why this time around Torvalds has seen fit to include code that does a better job handling PS/2 mice. For both of you still using those.

Yes, and my grey SGI-branded 3-button PS/2 mouse (non-optical) thanks you for that.

That said, a lot of laptops have PS/2-attached touch pads even though the laptop lacks a PS/2 socket, so it's applicable in quite a few places.

[Grikath]

Re: PS/2 Mice

and then some.. It may be oldfashioned, but it doesn't involve the whole USB layer, which has its uses. The fact that it's supposed to improve touchscreen behaviour may be a hint ;)

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: PS/2 Mice

Hey, I've got some not that ancient servers that have PS2 for keyboard and mouse.

Errr not that I'd ever use a mouse on them, mice should be connected to servers via the LAN cable :-)

[Nigel 11]

Re: PS/2 Mice

More than a few current desktop motherboards still have a PS/2 port, or even ports. Why force people to throw away perfectly good or better optical mice and KVM switches just because the interface isn't the latest?

Also there's the original IBM PC "clicky" keyboard which some insist is still the best keyboard ever made. Certainly they'll never make one like that again!

[AMBxx]

Certainly they'll never make one like that again!

I have a Filco 'clicky keyboard'. Damn expensive, but worth every penny.

[BinkyTheMagicPaperclip]

'they'll never make one like that again'

Really?

http://www.modelfkeyboards.com/

http://www.pckeyboard.com/

:)

[Chez]

Re: 'they'll never make one like that again'

My Unicomp Ultra Classic was the best peripheral I've ever purchased. Naturally, I got it in PS/2.

[James 47]

Re: PS/2 Mice

Pretty much all motherboards for gamers/overclockers will still come with a PS/2 port.

[Jamesit]

Re: PS/2 Mice

"Also there's the original IBM PC "clicky" keyboard which some insist is still the best keyboard ever made. Certainly they'll never make one like that again!"

Unicomp makes them, They can be bought on pckeyboard.com.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: PS/2 Mice

The part of IBM that made those (IBM Model M keyboards) was the subject of a divestiture to Lexmark decades ago (early 90s) and was then spun out into a specialist keyboard company in the late 90's. That company still exists, called Unicomp.

As a result, they absolutely *do* make them like that. The keyboard chassis are still solid enough to break stuff with.

http://www.pckeyboard.com/

[Andy A]

Re: PS/2 Mice

Yes, the desktops we have had from Lenovo recently have re-implemented PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports. 3 x DisplayPorts, but no VGA.

Are things moving forwards or backwards in hardwareland?

[Ken Hagan]

Re: PS/2 Mice

I see no reason why an optical PS/2 mouse might not have a usable lifetime of 20 years or more, so as long as there is a socket on the back to plug it into, there will be people who use them. Why buy a new mouse just because you bought a new PC?

[AMBxx]

Re: PS/2 Mice

Not been in a server room for a while - do you still need to reboot after inserting a PS/2 mouse or keyboard for it to be recognised? Maybe this was a just a Windows 2000 thing (yes, it's been that long!).

[Chemist]

Re: PS/2 Mice

"do you still need to reboot after inserting a PS/2 mouse or keyboard for it to be recognised"

Well I've got an old, old IBM keyboard ( the one with the weight in ) which regularly detaches from its cable due to the unforgiving nature of the cable ( think mooring ships) and on plugging that back in it all works fine without any further actions running OpenSUSE.

[dotdavid]

Re: PS/2 Mice

"do you still need to reboot after inserting a PS/2 mouse or keyboard for it to be recognised"

In my experience it would be fine to detach/reattach a PS/2 mouse/keyboard as long as you initially booted with it plugged in, but I don't know how typical that was.

[M man]

Re: PS/2 Mice

You can RE plug a recognised one back in, but not add one.

[PaulFrederick]

Re: PS/2 Mice

I'm pretty sure the original spec for PS/2 did not allow for hot plugging at all. Which is to say that if you did it you ran the risk of damaging hardware in the process. But that became such an issue later PS/2 controllers were modified to handle the abuse. USB came about to rectify this earlier design flaw.

So the whole matter goes a bit beyond just not recognizing the hardware.

[Vic]

Re: PS/2 Mice

do you still need to reboot after inserting a PS/2 mouse or keyboard for it to be recognised?

That seems to depend on the motherboard; some cope just fine with hot-insertion. And some don't.

Vic.

[John Hughes]

Re: PS/2 Mice

I see no reason why an optical PS/2 mouse might not have a usable lifetime of 20 years or more,

In my experience they never live that long -- the wires break where the cable enters the mouse body. (It's fixable of course, but mice don't cost very much these days).

[BinkyTheMagicPaperclip]

Re: PS/2 Mice

I have to admit I usually draw the line at ball mice these days, although I may need to use one for the ancient 486 used for particularly old games - it's only got a serial mouse port. At least they don't need to have a super special mouse mat, though, unlike the optical mice I have which throw a fit if their mouse mat isn't a uniform shade of black.

There's a quite nice three button Logitech mouse systems protocol mouse lying around somewhere, plus one of the worst mice ever : the wedge shaped IBM mouse. I have that one for giggles, although it's basically usable. The claw grip mouse they released a few years later was much better.

[Anonymous Coward]

Most servers will never see this

Due to Linux hardware fragmentation....

Ohh, sorry, thought this was an Android story... My bsd...

[Mystic Megabyte]

meh

My mouse has a friggin lazer beam!

[frank ly]

Re: meh

You're not the only one who can't afford a shark.

[VinceH]

Re: meh

It's not just about being able to afford one. Sharks just don't seem to take too well to being placed on a desk and pushed around.

[PNGuinn]

Re: meh @ mystic M

Frikkin'

[Destroy All Monsters]

Steady as she goes

...now can I get a non-cratering KDE5 release. Oh wait, Baloo has started up, oh my god it's full of stars....

[Long John Brass]

Re: Steady as she goes

Yup - The latest rev of KDE makes me very very sad

Looking for a non-gnome replacement, but ...

[Havin_it]

Re: Steady as she goes

Hm, still no better then? I was just clearing some time this week to build the latest releases on my Gentoo box. Maybe I'll skip it and wait for the next :|

I'm sure it will attain tolerability eventually but the regular plasma crashes (although at least it comes back up by itself now) and kded5 going 100% CPU after a suspend or two, are getting a tad bit wearing.

Alternatives? Oodles of choice, but if you want to keep it Qt, then LXQt is in quite good shape by now. I've been using it on my Raspberries for a while now and find it quite pleasingly unobtrusive but equipped with all the basic comforts (although the preferences controls are a bit all-over-the-place). I do miss Klipper though.

[BinkyTheMagicPaperclip]

All my systems are still using PS/2 mice, at least indirectly

True, in some of them it's via a PS/2 to USB converter, but that's a lot cheaper than replacing a perfectly good eight port KVM with one that supports USB.. My main system does have a USB mouse on too, and don't get me wrong, USB is awesome for hot plugging different keyboards, USB sticks, game controllers, printers..

Not to mention on a (fairly limited) number of platforms these days, it's more reliable to rescue a system via PS/2 than USB.

[Adrian Jones]

Re: All my systems are still using PS/2 mice, at least indirectly

Yup, same here. PS/2 mouse and keyboard, with VGA graphics, because USB/HDMI KVMs are stupid prices.

Hopefully this will fix the issue I have, of having to unplug and re-plug the mouse to get the wheel working again, when I switch to the Linux box.

[I Am Spartacus]

But what about the release

Come on, lets leave the rodent stuff alone

Who feels like installing this and test the new Flash friendly file system? On Ubuntu 15.10 ?

[Naselus]

include code that does a better job handling PS/2 mice

Because 2016 will be the Year of Linux on the 1998 Desktop...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: include code that does a better job handling PS/2 mice

As mentioned above, a lot of laptops have pointing devices that are PS/2 even though they lack the physical socket to plug in a PS/2 mouse.

An example would be the Panasonic Toughbook CF-53 which I use at work, which is an Ivy Bridge Core i5-based machine, so not exactly ancient.

[leon clarke]

OK. I have to ask

What was wrong with the old handling of PS/2 mice?

[Adrian Jones]

Re: OK. I have to ask

For me it manifested as the scroll wheel stopping working, every time I switched to my Ubuntu box on my KVM. (Requiring the mouse to be unplugged and replugged.)

Other distros had a few seconds of confusion, where the mouse skittered about the screen sending random button presses, before settling down.

Hopefully this will fix both of these.

[Alan Brown]

f2fs

"There's also a big update to the flash-memory-friendly F2FS file-system that speeds it up, improves cache flushing and doing better at defragging."

I wonder if it fixes a partition-trashing regression I've found can be reliably triggered on f2fs over MD-raid1

[Speltier]

keyboard and mice

Still using the PS/2 mice and IBM click type keyboard-- although the best keyboard made is the IBM 3279 keyboard (keyboard and monitor). Unfortunately, the 3279 keyboard doesn't have a PS/2 connector.

[I Am Spartacus]

Re: keyboard and mice

Didnt think it had a mouse either.

[Pookietoo]

Re: best keyboard made is the IBM 3279

I thought the DEC LK201 (that was supplied with the VT220) was a brilliant keyboard.

[Philip Lewis]

Re: best keyboard made is the IBM 3279

Indeed it was. RIP DEC