ubuntu "certified" hardware misleading, and key contributor to lack of progress on bug #1
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xserver-xorg-input-synaptics (Ubuntu) |
Expired
|
High
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
Binary package hint: xserver-
a few related bugs: 1, 611992, 556019, 483121, 380126, 191024, many, many more, unassigned, undecided, unassigned...
synopsis: bug #1 has much to do with hardware oem's working with ms to design products to work with their 0$ and provide drivers. to make some progress on bug #1 it is critical that a ***trusted*** hardware certification program exist that can assist partners, resellers, isvs, systems integrators, support organizations and consumers in selecting hardware that just works with ubuntu, ***especially when the oem ships the system with ubuntu installed***.
case in point: dell ships vostro v13 with ubuntu 9.04 installed. cannonical lists vostro v13 as certified on 10.04 with only a note that proprietary drivers are required for wifi. cool, i buy one...
reality: there is no ubuntu support (hardy through maverick) whether supplied by dell or canonical, for the synaptics touchpad in the v13. haven't found any other linux 2.6 distro that supports it either, not even the 2.6.36 git tree. works fine with dell supplied xp driver. looking through the bug reports, it seems that most of the newer gesturing touchpads on many notebooks from various manufacturers and oems also are suffering similar issues.
potential security implications: since the touchpad cannot be configured and disabled while typing (except via Fn-F6 on the v13), heaven only knows what configuration changes you're making on your system, or the remote server or device you're configuring, or how many items you just **really** bought on that website, or what other information you've inadvertently cut-and-pasted into whatever form/site/config file. it's virtually impossible to use the keyboard without touching the huge touchpad on this machine.
notice that synaptics does indeed provide support for linux to oems: see http://
one would think that the ability to configure a touchpad as a touchpad, not just a generic ps/2 mouse would be a critical accessibility check in a certification program.
this "certification" is quite misleading, and reflects poorly on dell, canonical and synaptics.
what will it take to be able to ***trust*** ubuntu's hardware certification?
imho. canonical needs to take ownership and:
1. the vostro v13 should be removed from the "certified" status until it really works.
2. ensure touchpad recognition by kernel, all relevant drivers and configuration capability is present by default to achieve certified status
3. ensure oem's work with component device manufacturers and canonical engineering and quality control to supply requisite patches with their own distributions of ubuntu at the very least, better to work upstream where appropriate.
4. provide a facility to rate and or refute the certifications published at http://
cheers,
p.s. in my case, i've exhausted all support options and am returning the machine to dell for a refund.
| visibility: | private → public |
| Marc Deslauriers (mdeslaur) wrote | #1 |
| security vulnerability: | yes → no |
| Mervin Beng (mervinb) wrote | #2 |
| bitinerant (bitinerant) wrote | #3 |
| fuggum (fuggum) wrote | #4 |
| bitinerant (bitinerant) wrote | #5 |
| Changed in xserver-xorg-input-synaptics (Ubuntu): | |
| importance: | Undecided → Low |
| Вячеслав Шабельник (imale) wrote | #6 |
| Ahmed Shams (ashams) wrote | #7 |
| Changed in xserver-xorg-input-synaptics (Ubuntu): | |
| importance: | Low → High |
| status: | New → Incomplete |
| Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote | #8 |
| Changed in xserver-xorg-input-synaptics (Ubuntu): | |
| status: | Incomplete → Expired |
Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We appreciate the difficulties you are facing, but this appears to be a "regular" (non-security) bug. I have unmarked it as a security issue since this bug does not show evidence of allowing attackers to cross privilege boundaries nor directly cause loss of data/privacy. Please feel free to report any other bugs you may find.