On Thu, Apr 07, 2022 at 03:56:13PM -0400, Ben Cotton wrote:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/LegacyXorgDriverRemoval
== Summary ==
This change will remove the `xorg-x11-drv-vesa` and
`xorg-x11-drv-fbdev` driver packages, and associated support code from
the `xorg-x11-server-Xorg` package.
== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:ajax|Adam Jackson]]
* Email: ajax(a)redhat.com
== Detailed Description ==
Fedora's primary desktop environments are moving away from being X11
sessions, to being Wayland servers in their own right. This transition
is incomplete, and the Xorg server is still potentially used in a
variety of "fallback" situations. In particular the `vesa` and `fbdev`
drivers can find themselves pressed into use when accelerated graphics
is unavailable. Both of these drivers are somewhat deprecated
upstream, and the code to reach them is increasingly fragile as it
gets exercised less and less.
This change will identify the remaining configurations that can reach
these drivers, establish an alternative for display support for each
configuration, and then remove the drivers and their support code in
xserver.
== Feedback ==
None yet.
== Benefit to Fedora ==
* Verified modern supported paths for cases currently handled by vesa/fbdev
* Simpler support/testing matrix for QE
* One less reason to need Xorg installed at all
== Scope ==
* Proposal owners: ajax needs to audit hardware support matrix for
cases that can hit these drivers, and the rest of the OS for places
that can configure them.
The crux is: how widespread this is. I know you say "TBD", but do you
have any estimates?
For an upgraded system to notice this change, it would need to be
already using one of these drivers. For cases we can identify where
this would happen without explicit configuration, we will ensure the
display is enabled by some other path or documented as no longer
supported. However, for cases where the driver is set explicitly in
`xorg.conf`, there is no obviously correct remedy that we could do
automatically, and the user will need to fix their X configuration
manually.
Could we add a runtime warning to those drivers in F35 and F36?
(That'd need some patch in the code I assume, but that should be
easy to do.) It'd be nice to warn users that their configuration
is becoming obsolete.
Also, I don't think we want to go from "used" to "removed"
directly.
I would very much prefer for the code to remain built for F37, but
require an opt-in. The can even declare the package as unsupported,
"bugs will not be fixed", etc. Inevitably, some users will be caught
off guard and unhappy, and if they have *some* workaround to prolong
the old state, it'll probably save us all a few grey hair.
Zbyszek