rfc/headsup: graphics driver packaging in F16+

[Nathaniel McCallum]

On Tue, 2011-04-12 at 13:38 -0400, Adam Jackson wrote:
> On Tue, 2011-04-12 at 12:23 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> > Adam Jackson (ajax at redhat.com) said: 
> > > So that's the rough plan.  Comments appreciated if I'm overlooking
> > > anything.
> > 
> > The question would be how we ensure that these additional drivers are in the
> > install image, or in the installed system, if necessary. Or do we not care
> > if they get vesa?  How would users be informed/able to install drivers if
> > necessary? (I don't know that PK search is good here.)
> 
> To a first approximation, I deeply do not care.  If you're choosing to
> use an s3virge in 2011 you've already decided to make your life hard.
> 
> But if we're trying to be completionists about it, import the data
> from /usr/share/hwdata/videoaliases/*.xinf into virtual Provides for
> each driver package and teach packagekit or whatever how to cope.
> Something like this:
> 
> http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2010-April/135004.html
> 
> But then, if we had _that_, comps could grow a fourth class for
> "as-needed" and we'd just list all driver packages there, including cups
> and webcam drivers and etc.  Install image creation would pull them all
> in; anaconda would filter the available as-needed's based on target
> hardware.
> 
> In that scenario you'd still need to do manual selection of some driver
> packages for critpathness, but, okay.

With this approach, you have lost a critical feature: the ability for
you to change your hardware (or move the software bits to a different
computer) and have everything automatically work.

Nathaniel