[gentoo-dev] Modular X plans

[Donnie Berkholz]

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(This is an expanded, updated version of a recent blog post, so some of
you may have already seen parts of it.)

Background: Upstream is splitting up the monolithic X.Org X11 release
into a huge number of modular releases, the combination of which will be
released as X11R7. Simultaneously, a source-identical monolith will be
released as X11R6.9.

Gentoo will only add X11R7, the modular release. Roughly 280 packages
will comprise this release, so this will entail adding a few new
categories to deal with them.

Here's the categories I'm looking at using, which is mostly a mirror of
how upstream breaks it down:

~    * x11-apps: The various applications that come along with all X11RX
releases. 86 ebuilds.

~    * x11-proto: The protocol headers. 30 ebuilds.

~    * x11-libs: 43 ebuilds.

~    * media-fonts: 35 ebuilds.

~    * x11-drivers: All the video and input drivers. 68 ebuilds.

~    * x11-base: The actual X server, and meta-ebuilds. <10 ebuilds.

~    * app-doc: Old-format docs that haven't been broken into individual
packages yet. Probably just a couple ebuilds.

~    * x11-misc: The data module, which contains bitmaps and xkbdata.
Also the util module, with imake, etc. <10 ebuilds.

The new categories are x11-apps, x11-proto and x11-drivers. Of these,
the name for x11-proto (the protocol headers) is debatable. The upstream
module they're all in is called "proto," and their pkg-config (*.pc)
files are called fooproto. But I'm also open to names such as
x11-protocol or x11-headers, so let me know what you think makes the
most sense, both in understanding the meaning and in combination with
upstream's naming.

My plan is to have a series of "submetabuilds" that combine into a
"supermetabuild," which will be the actual xorg-x11 ebuild. There will
be one submetabuild for each major component: apps, drivers, libraries,
etc. This will allow me to split USE flags out a bit (so e.g., x11-fonts
would have 100dpi, 75dpi, truetype as flags) as well as allow people who
only want e.g. libraries for a headless server to get them cleanly.

I intend to begin adding these packages to the tree shortly after the
first release candidate, which should be happening very soon.


Repercussions:

All packages in the tree will need to clearly enunciate exactly which
parts of X they need as DEPENDs and RDEPENDs, down to the library or
application level.

Until such time as that becomes possible for everyone to do, the
x11-libs metabuild will PROVIDE virtual/x11. But realize that not
everybody will have or want all the X libraries installed, when they
only need a few.

If your package depends on virtual/x11 for any reason besides libraries,
it will require a dependency update to work with the new packages.


My preliminary work on the modular ebuilds is at
http://dev.gentoo.org/~spyderous/x-modular/ -- browse this at your
leisure. The metabuilds are all in x11-base/. There will be no tarball
of this overlay available because I'm not interested in dealing with
other testers before the first release candidate has even come out.

I eagerly await your questions and concerns.

Thanks,
Donnie
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