Overview of Jockey replacement; options for Kubuntu?

[Jonathan Thomas]

Hello,

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 1:07 AM, Martin Pitt <martin.pitt at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> Hello Jonathan,
>
> Jonathan Thomas [2012-05-29  8:24 -0400]:
>> > Please note that it just provides a PackageKit API. We don't use the
>> > actual PackageKit in Ubuntu as well, but the python-aptdaemon.pkcompat
>> > wrapper. Kubuntu does the same.
>>
>> This is incorrect, Kubuntu does not use aptdaemon at all
>
> 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.

>
>> and doing so would bring in a considerable amount of GTK libraries
>
> 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.

>
>> not to mention yet another apt implementation
>
> 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.

>
>> If at all I possible, I would like to write a QApt backend for
>> ubuntu-drivers-common.
>
> Sure, I don't have an opinion about whether or not this is better, as
> I don't know QApt myself.

QApt is perfectly capable of providing installation stuff over DBus,
so it would be better from a dependencies/ISO space standpoint. Do you
know if ubuntu-drivers-common currently supports multiple backends,
and if it could be made to do so?

>
>> > This provides an upstream friendly API, so that our GUIs for driver
>> > detection do not have to stay distro specific for all times. However,
>> > you don't have to use it, of course.
>>
>> Currently it's being dragged in by nvidia-common, so it's not exactly
>> optional if you have an nvidia card...
>
> nvidia-common was renamed to ubuntu-drivers-common, as it is not just
> for NVidia, but also for fglrx and the pvr-omap4 driver. As it is
> taking over Jockey's functionality, it is pretty much mandatory in
> 12.10, but in exchange we can drop Jockey.

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

>
> Thanks,
>
> Martin

Thanks,
Jonathan