Outdated and broken PC/SC drivers with pcsc-lite 2.4.0

Since pcsc-lite 2.4.0 and the fact that pcscd can now run as a normal user (see pcscd runs as pcscd user), the driver must configure the reader's device access rights. Otherwise, the pcscd process will not be able to use the device.

Unmaintained drivers

Some older, unmaintained drivers will no longer work with pcscd. I have requested their removal from Debian unstable.

They are:

I am the Debian maintainer of these packages, so it is my responsibility to open tickets to remove the packages.

I also filed a release critical bug #1119081 on libgcr410 so that this driver will not be included in the next version of Debian (unless the issue is fixed).

Old hardware

These drivers are intended for very old serial smart card readers (who still has a serial port on their computer?) or USB readers from the last century.

The advantage of Free Software is that if someone still has such a device, they can obtain the source code of the driver (still available online), adapt it and use it.

Old software

There has been no new version of the asedriveiiie software since September 2010. The source code is no longer available from the publisher (a commecial company).

The ifd-gempc software is maintained upstream by me. The latest major version dates from April 2012 and was mostly compiler warnings fixes. The source code is still available at https://ifd-gempc.apdu.fr/.

The libgcr410 software was also written by me. I wrote it before ifd-gempc and I am surprised to see it packaged in Debian, as it should be replaced by ifd-gempc. The Debian package has been abandonned by its Debian maintainer since March 2008. More recent Debian versions have been produced by the Debian Quality Assurance (QA) team.

Popularity

I have already published an article on the popularity of Debian packages for smart cards in 2020 in Smart card Usage in Debian: pcscd and drivers.

With updated graphics, we now have:

  • asedriveiiie

Popularity contest statistics for asedriveiiie

  • ifd-gempc

Popularity contest statistics for ifd-gempc

  • libgcr410

Popularity contest statistics for libgcr410

Very few people still have these packages installed. And even fewer use them.

Changes required

I also filed the bug #39 "Set group to pcscd in the udev rules file" on the upstream acsccid driver.

This driver is a fork of my CCID driver and is still actively maintained. The problem should therefore be resolved in a new version.

Conclusion

I don't have enough free time to maintain software that is no longer in use.

I haven't used these drivers for at least 10 years. And I don't plan on using them in the future, because I discovered that I no longer have the smart card readers.