Changes/Replace Comps Language Group With Langpacks

Replace Comps Language Group With Langpacks

Summary

Language support groups in Comps file will get replaced by weak rich dependencies in the langpacks package.

With this Change meta-packages like langpacks-ja will also install required fonts and input-methods for the given language.

Owner

• Name: Parag Nemade
• Email: pnemade at fedoraproject dot org
• Name: Jens Petersen
• Email: petersen at fedoraproject dot org

• Release notes owner:

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 30
• Last updated: 2019-02-15
• Tracker bug: #1670375
• Release notes tracker: #289

Detailed Description

This change will remove the need of having the language specific comps groups in Fedora

langpacks-* meta-packages have been in Fedora since F24. Currently they only install locales, translation langpacks, and dictionaries, but not fonts or input-methods, etc. With this Change they will install required fonts and input-methods for a language as well.

e.g. When you do a net-install of Fedora in Japanese then with langpacks-ja the installation of any base package like libreoffice-core or man-pages causes libreoffice-langpack-ja or man-pages-ja to be installed. After this change using weak dependencies like Recommends in langpacks, Japanese fonts and input-method can also get installed if appropriate.

Then there is no need for language comps groups to exist: they will be handled by the langpacks package. It is found that some languages do not have any anaconda or Gnome package translations. Therefore brx, doi, kok, ks, lep, mni, sa, sat, sd languages are not moved into any langpacks packages.

See https://pagure.io/i18n/issue/97 for more background discussion.

Benefit to Fedora

Users can install complete language support now using langpacks only. This will also help to remove the long deprecated language support groups from comps.

Scope

• Proposal owners:
  • Move comps language groups packages into rich weak dependencies in langpacks package.
  • Test each langpacks package can pull in the fonts and input-methods as required for that language.
  • Initial development of this Change will be testable from this Langpacks Copr project.
  • Update 'fedora-kickstarts/l10n/' files to switch from language support groups to langpacks meta packages.
  • Removal all language support groups from comps-f30.xml.in via a pull request.

• Other developers: can help provide langpacks support if needed by adding a Recommends tag as given in this Langpacks guideline to each langpack subpackage.

• Release engineering: none

• Policies and guidelines: none

Upgrade/compatibility impact

None.

How To Test

• QA:Langpacks

User Experience

Currently users can get complete language support installed only using "dnf group install <language>-support" command. After this Change gets implemented end users can get their language support installed using the meta-package "langpacks-<langcode>".

Dependencies

No Other Change depend on this.

Contingency Plan

• Contingency mechanism:
  • revert the comps changes (leaving the language groups there for now has no averse affects and don't affect langpacks behaviour)
  • If this change is not completed by final development freeze then the remaining work will be targetted for F31.

• Contingency deadline: I don't think we will need anything to revert or apply any contingency plan here if this is not completed by beta freeze.
• Blocks release? No
• Blocks product? N/A

Documentation

• Need to add about this in the Release notes