[Xorg] ANNOUNCE: xkeyboard-config 0.1

[Sergey V. Udaltsov]

-- WHAT

The X Keyboard Configuration Database 0.1 - the non-arch project aimed
to provide the consistent, well-structured, frequently released open
source of X keyboard configuration data for X Window System
implementations (free, open source and commercial). The project is
targetted to both XKB-based and core X protocol-based (AKA
xmodmap-based) systems.

-- WHY

There are many X Window implementations which have very poor support for
non-standard keyboards, national layouts and options. 

Open Source X Window System implementations (xfree86, x.org) currently
have non-synchronized XKB configuration databases: the bugs fixed in one
repository are not reflected in the other, new configuration elements
are added (in best case) separately and independently to both CVS trees
- but usually only one tree gets them.

Commercial X Window System implementations cannot support large variety
of national layouts - usually, because of lack of resources. So users
from "exotic" countries feel offended and frustrated - their
environments are not complete.

The solution which would gurantee quality support for the keyboard
configuration data is to have single repository which would serve as
meta-project for X servers and OS distributions. XKeyboardConfig is
trying to be the one.

-- WHERE

http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/XKeyboardConfig
http://freedesktop.org/~xlibs/release/xkeyboard-config-0.1.tar.gz

-- LICENCE

OSI-approved MIT licence

-- VERSION NOTES

Version 0.1 represents restructured configuration database derived from
X.Org X11R6.7 release. Only single-group layouts are included (tested
for compatibility with the multiple layouts feature). Each
language/country has no more than one layout and any number of variants
(not the case for XFree86(tm) and X.Org(tm) implementations). 

-- TODO

- Add xmodmap configuration data
- Write more documentation on layouts submission
- Add compatibility rules for old broken layouts (to allow users to work
with existing configurations)
- Add more and more configuration elements
- Improve i18n (translation of base.xml file)

-- CONTRIBUTION AND RELATIONS TO X-RELATED PROJECTS

We kindly ask and encourage people contributing layouts to XFree86 and
X.Org repositories to send patches to XKeyboardConfig project. We would
highly appreciate X implementations using our codebase in their
distributions (there was preliminary agreement with X.Org implementation
maintainers). 

-- MAINTAINERS

Sergey V. Udaltsov (svu at gnome.org)
Ivan Pascal (comaintainer, pascal at xfree86.org)