Changes/New Fonts Packaging

New Fonts Packaging

Summary

Update the fonts packages in Fedora to follow newly approved fonts packaging guidelines.

Owner

• Name: Parag Nemade
• Email: pnemade AT fedoraproject DOT org

• Name: Nicolas Mailhot
• Email: nim AT fedoraproject DOT org

• Name: Akira Tagoh
• Email: tagoh AT fedoraproject DOT org

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 33
• Last updated: 2020-06-24
• FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

After long time we have got the fonts packaging guidelines updated. Thanks to Nicolas for his help on writing these new guidelines. These package guidelines are implemented in fonts-rpm-macros package and already available in all current stable Fedora releases. This package generates fonts-rpm-templates subpackage which provides new fonts packaging templates that packagers can use to package fonts in Fedora. This package is replacement of old fonts packaging guidelines package fontpackages.

Following these guidelines will give us proper per font family (sub)packages. All the discussions happened for implementing these guidelines is available in https://pagure.io/packaging-committee/pull-request/934 and https://pagure.io/packaging-committee/issue/935.

Benefit to Fedora

These new guildeines comes with automation of many things. There are macros available to generate metapackages, the new macros that implement new fonts packaging guidelines will help packager to write minimum spec file to package fonts. Those macros also generate appstream metainfo file automatically and validate it. There are new spec file templates are available for packagers to refer. They gets installed by fonts-rpm-templates package.

Scope

• Proposal owners:

We are going to try to update almost all fonts packages to use new fonts packaging guidelines. We will push changes directly to packages where we own them otherwise we will report pull-request and wait for package maintainer to merge it. If merge does not happen in a week time period, we will use provenpackager access to merge these pull-requests.

• Other developers:

After updating fonts packages to new fonts packaging, these font packages can generate new binary packages then other packages need to adopt these new package names.

• Release engineering:

I don't think any help is needed from releng

• Policies and guidelines:

Already packaging guidelines updated -> https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/FontsPolicy/

• Trademark approval: N/A

Upgrade/compatibility impact

We will ensure to support compatibility by adding Obsoletes: and Provides: if package name gets changed, otherwise there should be no impact on Fedora system upgrade.

How To Test

There should not be any visible change to end users so the only testing users can do is to check the fonts they are using are still usable.

User Experience

Users will get to use the opentype fonts.

Dependencies

This Change depends on new fonts packaging guidelines implementation which is already done by fonts-rpm-macros package which is available in Fedora.

Contingency Plan

As the old packaging format is still working by providing old macros by fonts-rpm-macros package, even if we will not complete all font packages conversion in Fedora, it will not affect the Fedora 33 release.

• Contingency mechanism: (What to do? Who will do it?) N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change), Yes/No
• Blocks product? product

Documentation

https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/FontsPolicy/

Release Notes

Release Notes will be provided after Code completion deadline checkpoint.