Comment 12 for bug 379203

This is almost certainly related to the following entry in xserver-xorg-input-synaptics' debian/NEWS file:

xserver-xorg-input-synaptics (1.1.1~git20090510-1) unstable; urgency=low

  * Tapping has been disabled by default on many touchpads by upstream, see
    the "NOTES" section in the synaptics(4) manpage for a short overview
    about how defaults are calculated.
    If you want to re-enable it, you can do so from within the X
    environment by running the following commands in a terminal:

        $ synclient TapButton1=1
        $ synclient TapButton2=2
        $ synclient TapButton3=3

    Note that the configuration will not be permanently modified, to do
    so assign the above option values in your xorg.conf or custom fdi file
    (see the synaptics(4) manpage or the documents in
    /usr/share/doc/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics for additional details).
    Another alternative is to use desktop environment specific tools
    like gpointing-device-settings or touchfreeze.

 -- David Nusinow <email address hidden> Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:23:11 -0400