Comment 40 for bug 125918

The hal-applesmc package, available in the mactel ppa, adds support for keyboard backlight via the applesmc sysfs interface. If you have a MacbookPro 3,1 or later, first:

# Remove your machine model from file /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/10osvendor/10-macbookpro-utils.fdi

# Add mactel PPA to /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mactel-support/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mactel-support/ubuntu intrepid main

# Update sources
sudo apt-get update

# Get the hal-applesmc
sudo apt-get install hal-applesmc