The default X-Window server in Debian GNU/Linux Testing (Etch) is now X.Org. The XFree86 was abandoned due a license change (what a stupid change!).
To enable tap and drag actions on the touchpad, install the xfree86-driver-synaptics package, and configure the relevant section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf as follow:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
# Driver "mouse"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/gpmdata"
# Option "Protocol" "IntelliMouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
# Option "MaxTapTime" "0"
EndSection
Starting from Debian Squeeze package xserver-xorg-input-synaptics 1.1.1, tapping has been disabled (because it is so by default on many touchpads by upstream). If you want to re-enable tapping you can issue the following command in a terminal:
synclient TapButton1=1 synclient TapButton2=2 synclient TapButton3=3
or you can add a section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
Option "TapButton1" "1"
Option "TapButton2" "2"
Option "TapButton3" "3"
EndSection
Also remember to add a ServerLayout section, otherwise the above section will be ignored:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection