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. >
I'm no guru at this but in the past, when something in a config file in /usr needs to be changed, there is usually a place in /etc to put the settings. Software looks in /usr first for default settings then looks in /etc for custom user settings. The config in /etc overrides the settings in /usr. If it were me, I'd find out if you can put those settings in /etc somewhere. Odds are, that is where they should be. I'd suspect they would go in the /etc/X11/ directory somewhere. Also, /etc is routinely updated and the config protect seems to work well there. Might solve that problem. Just a thought. Dale :-) :-)
