About "Xfce Configuration Guide"

[ZHANG Le]

Hey guys,

I think maybe there is an unnecessary step in xfce-config.xml.
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xfce-config.xml

It is: "First, make sure you've setup Xorg as shown in the X Server
Configuration Howto."

If user strictly follow X Server Configuration Howto (
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml ), he would install the whole
xorg-x11 meta package, which is not necessary.

Since xfce4-settings already depends on xorg-server, so just emerge xfce4 would
be enough.

AFAIK, xfce guide is the only guide which mentions xorg guide among our four
DE/WM guides:
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gnome-config.xml
http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/desktop/kde/kde-config.xml
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/fluxbox-config.xml

Or, instead of removing this step, how about we change it to "First, please
setup VIDEO_CARDS and INPUT_DEVICES variable correctly as described in X Server
Configuration Howto"?

--
Zhang, Le
Gentoo/Loongson Developer
http://zhangle.is-a-geek.org
0260 C902 B8F8 6506 6586 2B90 BC51 C808 1E4E 2973

Zhang Le <r0bertz@...> posted
20090608083147.GB16785@..., excerpted below, on  Mon,
08 Jun 2009 16:31:48 +0800:

> If user strictly follow X Server Configuration Howto (
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml ), he would install the
> whole xorg-x11 meta package, which is not necessary.

This one would be an outdated X Server Configuration Howto, then, as
Gentoo/X, last I read, does not expect or recommend that people install
the meta-package.

The context of that post was that the xorg-x11 meta-package includes bits
of software (specifically, certain fonts) that upstream considers
important, but that is not free software in keeping with Gentoo's Social
Contract.  Thus, Gentoo cannot properly recommend the meta-package as a
"core" package, and Gentoo/X does not do so, recommending instead that
people only install xorg-server and additional individual packages and
dependencies as they need them.  As freedom concerns me I made particular
note of this, tho unfortunately I don't have a reference handy, so direct
confirmation would likely be necessary.

Thus, any Gentoo documentation recommending the xorg-x11 meta-package for
other than the specific purpose of installing /everything/ upstream (as
opposed to Gentoo) recommends and considers important, is outdated and
needs updated.

I haven't looked to see if there's already one filed or not, but should I
file a bug, probably CCing the Gentoo/X folks for confirmation?  That doc
appears to be in the docs project space, not X's, so it'd be docs' bug.

--
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

[ZHANG Le]

On 15:20 Mon 08 Jun     , Duncan wrote:

> Zhang Le <r0bertz@...> posted
> 20090608083147.GB16785@..., excerpted below, on  Mon,
> 08 Jun 2009 16:31:48 +0800:
>
> > If user strictly follow X Server Configuration Howto (
> > http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xorg-config.xml ), he would install the
> > whole xorg-x11 meta package, which is not necessary.
>
> This one would be an outdated X Server Configuration Howto, then, as
> Gentoo/X, last I read, does not expect or recommend that people install
> the meta-package.
>

[snip]

>
> Thus, any Gentoo documentation recommending the xorg-x11 meta-package for
> other than the specific purpose of installing /everything/ upstream (as
> opposed to Gentoo) recommends and considers important, is outdated and
> needs updated.
>
> I haven't looked to see if there's already one filed or not, but should I
> file a bug, probably CCing the Gentoo/X folks for confirmation?  That doc
> appears to be in the docs project space, not X's, so it'd be docs' bug.

This doc's author is Sven Vermeulen, a previous Gentoo Doc guy. So it should be
a docs' bug. But CCing Gentoo/X folks won't hurt I think.

--
Zhang, Le
Gentoo/Loongson Developer
http://zhangle.is-a-geek.org
0260 C902 B8F8 6506 6586 2B90 BC51 C808 1E4E 2973

[Joshua Saddler]

Zhang Le wrote:
> [stuff]

First, I changed the xorg guide to recommend installing xorg-server
rather than xorg-x11. Functionally the two are identical, though the
later versions of xorg-x11 (~arch will soon go stable) add in dozens of
unnecessary font packages in many different languages. It's all just
bloat, so that warning is now in the guide.

Second, I updated the Xfce guide for 4.6. This includes new USE flags,
packages, renames, configuration, and more. I also slightly reworded the
reference to the Xorg guide. Really, at this point, probably all our
guides should mention it at the beginning. Up until now, if one didn't
properly configure xorg.conf and various settings, then you could really
hose your box. Now that xorg-server-1.5 is here, that may change.

The next big task (that someone needs to get OFF his LAZY ass and DO) is
update the xorg-config guide: http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=267769