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Mac OS X 10.2.x Disables Modifier Keys?
drunkToaster writes " Adobe's support pages note that Mac OS X 10.2.x fails to re-enable modifier keys after an authentication session. The keys are disabled during the user/password dance as a security measure. Adobe explains a workaround for the problem which drastically effects many of its applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc)." This makes no sense to me; I authenticate to various servers etc. all day long, and never have problems with modifier keys. The Adobe explanation seems wholly inadequate.
It's only true if the application in question uses GetKeys() to determine the state of the modifier keys. In some recent posts to the mac-games-dev mailing list (many games still use this function) this was acknowledged by Apple as a known bug (#3149605).
The proper way to do it is call GetCurrentModifierKeys(), as GetKeys() is one of the bits of rot that didn't get dropped when Apple moved to OS X.
I believe they mean that they disable the pubilcaly accessible API for accessing the keyboard, and use their own private API to make it more difficult for another app to intercept your password.
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It sounds like a reasonable precaution.
They just forgot to re-enable an semi-deprecated function for getting modifier keys afterwards. Sounds like a fairly minor bug, and I'm sure it'll be fixed in the next point release now that it's gotten coverage on
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Disabling other applications ability to access the keyboard directly being DRM? It's called security. I don't see how in the heck you relate that to DRM. Seriously... you're on crack.