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xorgcfg no longer in package xbase-clients



Hi!

As the ChangeLog for xbase-clients version 1:7.0.0-3 shows, mentions of
xorgcfg and xorgconfig are removed from the package description. I
couldn't find out when the programs themselves were removed.

Now as it appears, some users (including me) are missing the
functionality of at least the xorgcfg binary. See
http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2006/05/msg02230.html

On the debian-user list, the first question asked in that post wasn't
really answered. What was the _reason_ for not shipping those two
tools any more in the first place?

Sure one can configure the X server via debconf, but in many situations
it is still necessary to edit the xorg.conf file manually. The xorgcfg
tool at least provides a nice visualization of the current
configuration, and when the config file format is changed for
additional options, xorgcfg is most likely the first tool to be able to
interpret them right.

So why not give the users a chance to use whatever configuration
frontend they like? As long as they all access the same configuration
file I don't see what should be the problem, except debconf using a
cache for configuration choices, which may not reflect the xorg.conf
contents after changes with other tools. But how many packages have
config files stating "Don't edit this file directly, use
dpkg-reconfigure <package> instead. Your changes will be overwritten!"
or similar.

How much of an effort is it to include the tools in the xbase-clients
package, as it has been for ages? Even if they are buggy, sometime in
X.org development someone might take the time and fix them. Until then,
they could at least be available in the unstable and testing
distributions.

One more thing: It took me pretty long to find any information about
this matter. Shouldn't there be a mention in the release notes for a
change like this? The only thing I found on
(lists|packages|packages.qa|www).debian.org or on the system using
apt-cache and looking into changelogs was the comment about removing
xorgcfg and xorgconfig from the package description. So how about a
note and/or explanation there?

Thanks in advance! And great distro btw...

Kind regards, 
Andre Colomb
--
Greetings...
From: Andre Colomb <acolomb@schickhardt.org>



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