Re: F37 Change: Legacy Xorg Driver Removal (System-Wide Change proposal)

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On Thu, Apr 07, 2022 at 03:56:13PM -0400, Ben Cotton wrote:
> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/LegacyXorgDriverRemoval
> 
> 
> == Summary ==
> 
> This change will remove the `xorg-x11-drv-vesa` and
> `xorg-x11-drv-fbdev` driver packages, and associated support code from
> the `xorg-x11-server-Xorg` package.
> 
> == Owner ==
> * Name: [[User:ajax|Adam Jackson]]
> * Email: ajax@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> == Detailed Description ==
> 
> Fedora's primary desktop environments are moving away from being X11
> sessions, to being Wayland servers in their own right. This transition
> is incomplete, and the Xorg server is still potentially used in a
> variety of "fallback" situations. In particular the `vesa` and `fbdev`
> drivers can find themselves pressed into use when accelerated graphics
> is unavailable. Both of these drivers are somewhat deprecated
> upstream, and the code to reach them is increasingly fragile as it
> gets exercised less and less.
> 
> This change will identify the remaining configurations that can reach
> these drivers, establish an alternative for display support for each
> configuration, and then remove the drivers and their support code in
> xserver.
> 
> == Feedback ==
> 
> None yet.
> 
> == Benefit to Fedora ==
> 
> * Verified modern supported paths for cases currently handled by vesa/fbdev
> * Simpler support/testing matrix for QE
> * One less reason to need Xorg installed at all
> 
> == Scope ==
> * Proposal owners: ajax needs to audit hardware support matrix for
> cases that can hit these drivers, and the rest of the OS for places
> that can configure them.

The crux is: how widespread this is. I know you say "TBD", but do you
have any estimates?

> For an upgraded system to notice this change, it would need to be
> already using one of these drivers. For cases we can identify where
> this would happen without explicit configuration, we will ensure the
> display is enabled by some other path or documented as no longer
> supported. However, for cases where the driver is set explicitly in
> `xorg.conf`, there is no obviously correct remedy that we could do
> automatically, and the user will need to fix their X configuration
> manually.

Could we add a runtime warning to those drivers in F35 and F36?
(That'd need some patch in the code I assume, but that should be
easy to do.) It'd be nice to warn users that their configuration
is becoming obsolete.

Also, I don't think we want to go from "used" to "removed" directly.
I would very much prefer for the code to remain built for F37, but
require an opt-in. The can even declare the package as unsupported,
"bugs will not be fixed", etc. Inevitably, some users will be caught
off guard and unhappy, and if they have *some* workaround to prolong
the old state, it'll probably save us all a few grey hair.

Zbyszek
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