xkbdesc "upgrade": RFC

[Jim Gettys]

Seems sensible to me....
                      - Jim

On Thu, 2004-04-08 at 18:06, Sergey V. Udaltsov wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> Some while ago, xlib module in fd.o cvs got submodule xkbdesc. The only
> purpose of this submodule was to maintain the i18n work on xfree86.xml
> file used in xfree86 (and now, in xorg server as well).
> 
> Now, with the spreading of gnome 2.6, I get more bug reports related to
> the layouts in xfree86. I (and other people) cannot properly fix these
> bugs in timely fashion - even if the fixes are introduced into xfree
> cvs, they do not appear in xorg tree immediately (and vice versa). And,
> since next xfree version is ... long way from today, users won't see
> fixes for a rather long time.
> 
> What I am intending to do and what I'd like to discuss here (if anyone
> is interested) is separating all xkb configuration data into a single,
> noarch package, with its own autoconf script. This approach have several
> advantages:
> 
> - more frequent releases, not tied to any code changes - just to
> new/fixed data chunks.
> 
> - restructured layouts/variants tree. Current xfree xkb tree is rather
> chaotic - some layouts (like phonetics ones) should be demoted to
> variants. Creating separate package would allow to cut the gordian knot
> of the compatibility and put some proper layouts tree structure in
> place.
> 
> - Within a single package, it is be easier to sync the meta-data
> (xfree86.xml) and actual data.
> 
> So, I am going (unless discussion shows me that my idea is nonsense) to
> take existing xkb configuration data into xkbdesc module (all covered by
> good old x11 licence) and start asking layout maintainers to put the
> updated stuff into it. At least one of the major xfree layout
> contributors - Ivan Pascal - agreed to help me with the process. I am
> confident together with Ivan we'll be able to keep the xkbdesc module in
> a sync with xfree cvs tree - and hopefully better.
> 
> The final goal is to provide distribution maintainers with the latest,
> easy-to-package, most consistent X keyboard configuration which could be
> used by any X server (including commercial ones).
> 
> At some point later, I am going to add xmodmap configuration data (from
> the gnome keyboard applet, xmodmap version) - but there can be licensing
> issues, so no promises.
> 
> There are some initial discussions about major architectural changes
> related to the keyboard handling in X - but I think this project is
> useful in any case - whether these changes will take place or noe. The
> database of the keyboard configuration is a valuable data which should
> not be lost in any course of events.
> 
> I am not sure this is the right maillist to discuss this, so I apologize
> if I take wrong destination.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Sergey
> 
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-- 
Jim Gettys <Jim.Gettys at hp.com>
HP Labs, Cambridge Research Laboratory