On July 25, 2025 my custom keyboard layout files located in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ were unexpectedly overwritten during system despite the fact that they were config-protected: # emerge --info | grep CONFIG_PROTECT CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ /usr/share/config /usr/share/gnupg/qualified.txt" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/dconf /etc/env.d /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/texmf/language.dat.d /etc/texmf/language.def.d /etc/texmf/updmap.d /etc/texmf/web2c"
ChatGPT says to me that it was done when x11-misc/xkeyboard-config-2.45-r1 was updated. I do not use etc-update or dispatch-conf, and there were no ._cfg* files left behind — the overwrite happened silently. After examining the ebuild, ChatGPT noticed that src_install() uses meson_src_install, and then moves the entire installed /usr/share/X11/xkb tree to /usr/share/X11/xkb.workaround/ as a workaround for bug #957712. In pkg_preinst(), that tree is then forcibly moved back to /usr/share/X11/xkb, overwriting any existing files. This manual move bypasses Portage’s CONFIG_PROTECT mechanism entirely, as pkg_preinst() runs before Portage has a chance to apply config file protection. While I understand the intention behind the workaround, the result was a total loss of my custom layout files, despite explicitly protecting the directory. I’ve been using Gentoo for 12 years, and I have never been so disappointed by the Gentoo as I was when this happened to say the least. Is there a Gentoo-compliant way to preserve customized layouts that replace system-provided ones under such circumstances? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or guidance.
