[Pkg-fglrx-devel] review debconf templates of fglrx-driver [non-free]

[Andreas Beckmann]

Hi Jonathan and Christian,

thanks for your comments.

On 2012-06-13 09:08, Jonathan Nieder wrote:
> Christian PERRIER wrote:
>> Quoting Jonathan Nieder (jrnieder at gmail.com):
>
>>> 	 We recommend the free radeon driver (package:
xserver-xorg-video-radeon)
>>> 	 for these cards.
> [...]
>> My proposal would be to avoid the use of first person ("who is
>> 'We'"?).
>
> I believe ATI recommends the free radeon driver for chipsets fglrx
> doesn't support any more.  Would it be safe to say that in the debconf
> prompt?

About the move to legacy status in general:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5775/amd-hd-2000-hd-3000-hd-4000-gpus-being-moved-to-legacy-status-in-may

Although I couldn't find an "official" source for this information on
AMDs website. And there isn't anything specific about Linux...

Your suggestion "You should use" is good, there is no need for any
"source" of that recommendation.


On 2012-06-13 06:59, Christian PERRIER wrote:
> Jonathan's version is IMHO better because the synopsis can be used
> alone, which was not the case of the version originally proposed.
>
> "It is recommended to use the free radeon friver"
>
> or, to avoid passive form:
>
> "You should use the free radeon driver".
>
> Also avoid "your system"....
>
>
> Also: "install WHAT despite unsupported graphics card"
>
> And finally, I would recommend avoiding the "GPU" acronym
>
> Which would turn the template to:
>
>
> _Description: Install fglrx driver despite unsupported graphics card?
>  The following graphics chipset found in this system are no longer handled
>  by the fglrx driver:
>  .
>  ${unsupported-gpus}
>  .
>  You should use the free radeon driver (package:
xserver-xorg-video-radeon)
>  for these cards.

Fine until here.

>  .
>  If you would like to install fglrx anyway (for example to drive some
>  other card), it will not interfere with other drivers for these cards.

On 2012-06-13 03:53, Jonathan Nieder wrote:
> Is any special configuration required in order to help the system
> decide which driver to use for each GPU?

Thanks for making me think about this again ... there are some more
complications:

In order to switch from fglrx back to radeon the fglrx-driver package
needs to be purged (to remove the modprobe blacklisting of the radeon
kernel module). Furthermore xorg.conf (xorg.conf.d/) need to be cleaned
manually from any fglrx specific settings (otherwise X won't start if
fglrx is referenced in the config but no longer installed).
Initially the user had to configure xorg.conf(.d) manually to enable the
fglrx driver (there is no autodetection of the non-free drivers in X),
this is usually done by running aticonfig. (There is no debconf support
for getting an initial xorg.conf, and none planned at this time - the
commonly used upstream tools don't integrate well with usual config file
management in Debian)

This is probably something we should warn the user about.

For "leftover config" a debconf warning could be displayed in
fglrx-driver.postrm remove if $(grep fglrx /etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/*) returns something. Although it's too late for
users that are going to uninstall fglrx without upgrading first.
Similarily the postinst should use debconf instead of echo to present
the hint how to enable fglrx in xorg.conf.

So, what about this extension of the above template:

    You should use the free radeon driver (package: xserver-xorg-video-
    radeon) for these cards.
    Note: The fglrx-driver package needs to be purged (removal is
    not sufficient) and fglrx configuration needs to be removed from
    xorg.conf (and xorg.conf.d/) before the radeon driver can be used.
    .
    You may install fglrx anyway (for example to drive some other card).

Is it clear for the translators that radeon, fglrx, and the package
names are not to be translated? Should there be any quotes being used?


Andreas