hal 0.5.12~rc1+git20090204-0ubuntu2 (i386 binary) in ubuntu jaunty

 HAL provides an abstract view on hardware.
 .
 This abstraction layer is simply an interface that makes it possible to
 add support for new devices and new ways of connecting devices to the
 computer, without modifying every application that uses the device.
 It maintains a list of devices that currently exist, and can provide
 information about those upon request.