On Sunday, 27 July 2025 13:18:34 British Summer Time gevisz wrote: > 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.
The offending lines in /var/db/repos/gentoo/x11-misc/xkeyboard-config/
xkeyboard-config-2.45-r1.ebuild are:
====================================
...
68 src_install() {
69 meson_src_install
70
71 # Workaround for portage's collision checks, see pkg_preinst (bug
#957712)
72 mv "${ED}"/usr/share/X11/xkb{,.workaround} || die
73 }
74
75 pkg_preinst() { 76 # Avoid touching EROOT if not needed, and use
-f just-in-case anyway
77 if [[ -d ${EROOT}/usr/share/X11/xkb && ! -L ${EROOT}/usr/share/
X11/xkb ]]; then
78 rm -rf "${EROOT}"/usr/share/X11/xkb || die
79 fi
80 mv "${ED}"/usr/share/X11/xkb{.workaround,} || die
81 }
==============
I suggest you re-open this bug[1], because its workaround may have been
somewhat inconsiderate as to potential impacts.
However, unlike files in /etc/ subdirectories, files under /usr/share/ are
generally expected to be overwritten by package updates. I see the wiki[2]
suggests to create/edit files in place for custom keyboard layouts, but I
wonder if it would have been safer for a symlink pointing to /etc where custom
xkb config files could be stored more safely.
[1] https://bugs.gentoo.org/957712
[2] https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout_switching
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