Dynamic device management with Udev, HAL, and D-Bus
Conclusions
Just a couple of years ago, configuring new hardware on Linux was a daunting task and just one more reason for newcomers to keep clear. Now, Linux offers convenient device management that provides trouble-free, dynamic handling of devices plugged in at run time – including WLAN sticks, digital cameras, and even camcorders. Linux can listen on interfaces such as Bluetooth and Firewire and, if necessary, not only integrate a device you plug in, but launch the matching application as well.
Fortunately, the trend in recent months has been toward standardizing the underlying technologies. Udev has already clearly ousted its predecessor, Devfs, and found its way into the Linux kernel. Now the Freedesktop.org-sponsored team of HAL and D-Bus is establishing itself in the face of competition from the previous Gnome and KDE favorites, Corba and DCOP.
This merge has greatly improved communications between the two desktop environments. Gnome already has a mature front end for dynamic device management with Gnome Volume Manager and related tools. KDE is following suit after considerable restructuring of its libraries in version 4.
The KDE Solid hardware library adds a new and powerful framework to make hardware management on KDE easier than ever. In the months to come, you can look forward to more dynamic device management fireworks.
Glossar
Uevent
Short form of User Event. This means a notification event from the kernel to programs in userspace. This memory area, which is separate from the kernel space, is populated by normal programs and non-kernel subsystems. The Udev subsystem runs in userspace.
Sysfs
A virtual filesystem that was introduced with kernel version 2.6. It is normally accessible under /sys and makes device and driver information defined in the Kernel Device Model, the kernel's internal device database, available to programs in userspace.
IPC
Short for Interprocess Communication, a method of communication and data exchange between processes on the same computer.
Infos
- Udev: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev.html
- HAL: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/hal
- Freedesktop.org: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki
- D-Bus: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/dbus
- Corba: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORBA
- DCOP: http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/dcop.html
- DCOM for programmers: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms809311.aspx
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
PipeWire 1.0 Officially Released
PipeWire was created to take the place of the oft-troubled PulseAudio and has finally reached the 1.0 status as a major update with plenty of improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Rocky Linux 9.3 is Available for Download
The latest version of the RHEL alternative is now available and brings back cloud and container images for ppc64le along with plenty of new features and fixes.
-
Ubuntu Budgie Shifts How to Tackle Wayland
Ubuntu Budgie has yet to make the switch to Wayland but with a change in approaches, they're finally on track to making it happen.
-
TUXEDO's New Ultraportable Linux Workstation Released
The TUXEDO Pulse 14 blends portability with power, thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU.
-
AlmaLinux Will No Longer Be "Just Another RHEL Clone"
With the release of AlmaLinux 9.3, the distribution will be built entirely from upstream sources.
-
elementary OS 8 Has a Big Surprise in Store
When elementary OS 8 finally arrives, it will not only be based on Ubuntu 24.04 but it will also default to Wayland for better performance and security.
-
OpenELA Releases Enterprise Linux Source Code
With Red Hat restricting the source for RHEL, it was only a matter of time before those who depended on that source struck out on their own.
-
StripedFly Malware Hiding in Plain Sight as a Cryptocurrency Miner
A rather deceptive piece of malware has infected 1 million Windows and Linux hosts since 2017.
-
Experimental Wayland Support Planned for Linux Mint 21.3
As with most Linux distributions, the migration to Wayland is in full force. While some distributions have already made the move, Linux Mint has been a bit slower to do so.
-
Window Maker Live 0.96.0-0 Released
If you're a fan of the Window Maker window manager, there's a new official release of the Linux distribution that champions the old-school user interface.