backlight device, suspend/resume...

[Mike (mwester)]

Werner Almesberger wrote:
> Mike (mwester) wrote:
>> In practice, compromise is necessary.  Can we at least let the kernel
>> bring the backlight up to a level that would allow the user to see vague
>> outlines of something on the screen?  Or failing that, can we make the
>> backlight level on resume configurable in some way?
> 
> If you need this, why not set the backlight to "dim" instead of "off"
> before requesting the suspend ?

Because I don't control the source code for the user-space apps that put
it into suspend in the first place.

Sure, it's easy - and arguably correct - to punt on the whole problem,
and make user-space deal with it.

So what then, when the user reports that "the phone randomly powers
off"?  Do the hardware/kernel folks just tell the user to go away, and
bother the application folks?

> The secret about successful kernel programming is to do as little as
> possible in the kernel :-)

The secret to customer satisfaction is proactively thinking about what
might go wrong, and providing the user with information that might be
helpful.  Sometimes that goes in a different direction from expending
minimal effort in the kernel.

> - Werner

Mike (mwester)