[BRLTTY] 5.6

[Dave Mielke]

[quoted lines by Brian Tew on 2018/04/05 at 18:46 -0500]

>I sure did not realize a bad make file could trash the system. I will avoid 
>installing as root if possible.

When you're logged in as root, any command will be allowed to blindly go ahead 
and do its thing. We all wish that everone who writes code can be trusted, but 
that isn't always true. Even if someone who writes code can be trusted, he 
might still be unintentinally careless, have forgotten to test something, etc. 
Bugs are eventually found within any piece of code, and that includes make 
files. When you run someone else's make file, you have absolutely no idea what 
it's actually doing. What you are doing, however, is putting your complete 
faith in whomever wrote the make file, and that isn't always a good idea.

At the very least, you should always do the make as someone other than root. 
Sometimes, of course, you need to do the make install as root. Often, however, 
you can even do the make install as some other user. All you often need to do 
is create the target directory such that it's owned by a safe user, and then 
install into it as that safe user.

>I didn't even realize uninstalling 5.3.1 would remove the brltty.service file, 

Well ... there's no particular reason that brltty's systemd service units would 
be part of any other package.

>Perhaps you begin to discern the level of my ignorance.

We all start from the beginning and learn as we go. The trick is for each of us 
to recognize what our own weaknesses are, and to take them into account when 
deciding whether or not to take some particular action.

>I will eventually go back and do things the right way.

Well ... there's ultimately no right way. There are safe and dangerous ways. 
There are cures and there are mere bandages.

>Maybe the reason for modifying /etc/default/brltty is to make brltty start 
>sooner.

This illustrates one of the things I'm trying to get at. I myself wouldn't do 
anything without first understandng why I'm doing it. Trying something just 
because is, for me, not a good enough reason. At the very least, if I don't 
know why I'm trying it then I can't possibly know if it actually succeeded.

>Indeed I am getting braille output sooner now.

Are you saying that you have 5.6 running now?

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