Status of kbd console-data and console-setup

[Cesare Leonardi]

Hello.
The freeze date is about three months away and i'd like to know if there
are any plans about these packages before then.

The main problem is that currently systemd comes with a partially broken
localectl, well explained here:
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2015/07/msg00110.html
And in the resulting bug report: #790955

If i understand correctly, the core problem is that kbd doesn't come
with keymaps but mandate these to console-setup or console-data. But
both carry them in a path unsuitable for localectl.

Console-data package was last updated in 2014, was reported obsolete for
a long time and user reporting bug to it are sollecited to migrate to
console-setup. For example see the preistoric bug #626680 (still valid).
And upstream looks definitely dead.
Why this broken package is still available?

Nowadays localectl from systemd coupled with kbd are able to cover the
main job of console-setup, isn't it? I mean setting up console's and
X11's keyboard.
So i wonder if today isn't better and simpler to finally drop
console-data, deliver a kbd package more closer to upstream (with all
its keymaps) and possibly adapt console-setup to use the keymaps
provided by it.

Moreover, i note that kbd upstream deliver a vlock binary which Debian
doesn't. Instead Debian provide a separate and optional "vlock" package,
last updated on 2014, but apparently from a different source. So i
wonder if wouldn't be useful to deliver also the upstream vlock binary
with kbd.

Hope to help.

Cesare.

[Alastair McKinstry]

Post by Cesare Leonardi
Hello.
The freeze date is about three months away and i'd like to know if
there are any plans about these packages before then.
The main problem is that currently systemd comes with a partially
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2015/07/msg00110.html
And in the resulting bug report: #790955
If i understand correctly, the core problem is that kbd doesn't come
with keymaps but mandate these to console-setup or console-data. But
both carry them in a path unsuitable for localectl.
Console-data package was last updated in 2014, was reported obsolete
for a long time and user reporting bug to it are sollecited to migrate
to console-setup. For example see the preistoric bug #626680 (still
valid). And upstream looks definitely dead.
Why this broken package is still available?

console-data dates back to being a "common data" package when we had kbd
and console-tools, supplying datasets needed for the installer and
keyboards/fonts not available in kbd.

With console-tools dead (and removed) and kbd re-active, I am happy to
see its remaining data merged back into kbd, console-setup.

Post by Cesare Leonardi
Nowadays localectl from systemd coupled with kbd are able to cover the
main job of console-setup, isn't it? I mean setting up console's and
X11's keyboard.
So i wonder if today isn't better and simpler to finally drop
console-data, deliver a kbd package more closer to upstream (with all
its keymaps) and possibly adapt console-setup to use the keymaps
provided by it.
Moreover, i note that kbd upstream deliver a vlock binary which Debian
doesn't. Instead Debian provide a separate and optional "vlock"
package, last updated on 2014, but apparently from a different source.
So i wonder if wouldn't be useful to deliver also the upstream vlock
binary with kbd.
Hope to help.
Cesare.

Regards
Alastair McKinstry , console-data maintainer

[Samuel Thibault]

Hello,

Console-data package was last updated in 2014, was reported obsolete for a
long time and user reporting bug to it are sollecited to migrate to
console-setup. For example see the preistoric bug #626680 (still valid). And
upstream looks definitely dead.
Why this broken package is still available?

Perhaps for some corner cases. It's meant to be removed anyway.

Nowadays localectl from systemd coupled with kbd are able to cover the main
job of console-setup, isn't it?

I don't think so. Does it support the various modifiers that xkb
supports, for instance? Does it cover at least the same set of keymaps
as xkb? Are kbd keymaps really as well maintained as xkb-data keymaps
are?

I mean setting up console's and X11's keyboard.

Does systemd now sets up X11 keyboard too?!

Using console-setup has allowed Debian to configure both console and X11
keyboard exactly the same way, with the same xkb-data keymaps. Using the
kbd keymaps would strongly depart from this, wouldn't it?

Samuel

[Felipe Sateler]

Post by Samuel Thibault
Hello,

Post by Cesare Leonardi
Console-data package was last updated in 2014, was reported obsolete
for a long time and user reporting bug to it are sollecited to migrate
to console-setup. For example see the preistoric bug #626680 (still
valid). And upstream looks definitely dead.
Why this broken package is still available?

Perhaps for some corner cases. It's meant to be removed anyway.

Post by Cesare Leonardi
Nowadays localectl from systemd coupled with kbd are able to cover the
main job of console-setup, isn't it?

I don't think so. Does it support the various modifiers that xkb
supports, for instance? Does it cover at least the same set of keymaps
as xkb? Are kbd keymaps really as well maintained as xkb-data keymaps
are?

localed by itself does little more than updating /etc/default/keyboard et
al[1] (it can set XKBMODEL, XKBVARIANT, XKBLAYOUT and XKBOPTIONS in that
file). It then tries to invoke systemd-vconsole, which is the service
that actually tries to setup the console, but it is not enabled in debian.

Post by Samuel Thibault

Post by Cesare Leonardi
I mean setting up console's and X11's keyboard.

Does systemd now sets up X11 keyboard too?!

Yes. But in debian it is patched to only touch /etc/default/keyboard.


[1] Via a debian patch, though.

[Samuel Thibault]

Hello,

Post by Felipe Sateler
localed by itself does little more than updating /etc/default/keyboard et
al[1] (it can set XKBMODEL, XKBVARIANT, XKBLAYOUT and XKBOPTIONS in that
file). It then tries to invoke systemd-vconsole, which is the service
that actually tries to setup the console, but it is not enabled in debian.

Post by Samuel Thibault

I mean setting up console's and X11's keyboard.

Does systemd now sets up X11 keyboard too?!

Yes. But in debian it is patched to only touch /etc/default/keyboard.

Ok, then it could simply get the list of available maps from xkb-data,
since that's the source for console-setup too.

Samuel

[Cesare Leonardi]

Post by Samuel Thibault

Post by Felipe Sateler
localed by itself does little more than updating /etc/default/keyboard et
al[1] (it can set XKBMODEL, XKBVARIANT, XKBLAYOUT and XKBOPTIONS in that
file). It then tries to invoke systemd-vconsole, which is the service
that actually tries to setup the console, but it is not enabled in debian.

Post by Samuel Thibault

I mean setting up console's and X11's keyboard.

Does systemd now sets up X11 keyboard too?!

Yes. But in debian it is patched to only touch /etc/default/keyboard.

Ok, then it could simply get the list of available maps from xkb-data,
since that's the source for console-setup too.

Systemd-localed already uses xkb-data for the X11 keymaps and, as far i
know, systemd's /etc/vconsole.conf is substantially the equivalent of
Debian's /etc/default/keyboard.
Furthermore upstream's systemd-vconsole-setup service can also set
keymaps and fonts on early boot providing some handy kernel command line
arguments, like "vconsole.keymap".

The problem is that currently localectl can get/set x11-keymaps but
cannot get/set text-console keymaps because it cannot find. And always
returns errors.

I wrote here, before filing bugs, to know if there were some plans about
console keymaps, because solving it potentially concern more packages:
systemd, keyb, console-setup and perhaps others.
I think that in the next days i'll try to revive this:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=790955

Regarding the vlock part of my initial message, in the meantime i've
filed these bugs:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=833843
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=833888

Cesare.