Overview of Jockey replacement; options for Kubuntu?

[Martin Pitt]

Jonathan Thomas [2012-05-30  8:19 -0400]:
> > Both aptdaemon and python-aptdaemon.pkcompat are on the Kubuntu
> > images.
> 
> Well, yes, now that nvidia-common is forcing the dependency via
> ubuntu-drivers-common. But they were not as of precise:
> http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/precise/daily-live/20120529.1/precise-desktop-amd64.manifest
> and such a dependency is undesirable.

Ah, oops. Dropped:

  https://github.com/tseliot/ubuntu-drivers-common/commit/5d0bdefd48

> > It does depend on glib and python-gi, but there's little chance of
> > avoiding glib in Kubuntu. I'm less sure about python-gi, though, that
> > might be new.
> 
> We'd also need a debconf frontend which would mean bringing in the
> grk3widgets aptdaemon stuff, which is undesirable as well.

Why is that? This just uses python-apt, it needs a frontend no more or
less than anything else that uses apt?

> > aptdaemon does not reimplement apt, it provides the python-apt
> > functionality over D-BUS (similar to PackageKit, but it's a lot faster
> > on Ubuntu).
> 
> I didn't mean re-implement the whole thing. ;-) But already we have
> the QApt Worker which can do this, making duplication a needless
> waste.

I think we are just talking past each other: current u-d-common
_enables_ PackageKit/aptdaemon to ask for "what package provides a
driver for this device". It does not require you to use it (you can
use the native UbuntuDrivers module). I was just explaining why the
aptdaemon stuff is there.

> QApt is perfectly capable of providing installation stuff over DBus,
> so it would be better from a dependencies/ISO space standpoint.

Sounds fine.

> Do you know if ubuntu-drivers-common currently supports multiple
> backends, and if it could be made to do so?

u-d-common is a backend already. It currently provides these
interfaces:

 * Native UbuntuDrivers Python module (Ubuntu specific)
 * ubuntu-drivers CLI tool (Ubuntu specific)
 * PackageKit "WhatProvides" API (upstream friendly for GUI
   integration)

Of course we can easily add QApt integration there, too. This is a
native Ubuntu package which is meant to bundle all the Ubuntu specific
knowledge and backends that we need to implement easy and
non-distro-specific GUIs and integration for driver handling.

So I guess the short answer is "yes" :-)

> Well then an aptdaemon dependency is really unwanted in this case.

Right, understood. It should be gone with the next upload, sorry about
that.

Thanks,

Martin
-- 
Martin Pitt                        | http://www.piware.de
Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com)  | Debian Developer  (www.debian.org)