Re: D-I Arabic and Debian Installation

[Christian Perrier <bubulle at debian dot org>]

(Kenshi, this is about broen Arabic display after a scratch install in
Arabic....similar problem you have with CJK languages)

(Joey, this is FYI...and for your advice about the Arabic task)

Quoting Ossama Khayat (okhayat at yahoo dot com):

> But how can we fix this? If someone new to Linux is doing the installation in
> Arabic get stuck with this, I bet he/she won't be able to figure it out.
> Can we do anything just to fix this before sarge release? It's really important
> otherwise all our translation and hard work will be in vain!

Well, that's not completely true. I suppose that most newbies will
install the desktop task anyway and thus will have a mostly graphical
system, which works pretty well, with correct display, as long as the
ttf-arabeyes package is installed.

Currently, this is not yet true. A scratch install with the desktop
task in Arabic leads to a broken display on GDM login screen because
of missing fonts.

I have proposed an Arabic task for
tasksel...but it is still sitting in the BTS:

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=282493

This would install the minimum needed for a correct Arabic display in
the graphical environment...but will do nothing for the console
environment.

The Arabic task for tasksel may be added : I have tested it enough for
knowing it works. However, we have to convince Joey Hess that it is OK
for sarge. As we are in a release cycle, Joey is currently very
conservative about changes and I understand this.....so, the only way
is being convincing enough for having this change added.

Joey, do you have an advice about an Arabic task for tasksel? In sarge
branch, of course (I guess that this is not really a problem in
unstable). It has been tested by me.... In difference with other
proposed language tasks, I consider it completely mandatory.

About the broken display in console mode, Kenshi, what is your advice
as you're concerned with Japanese, too?

Sorry to bring this quite late in the game : I'm afraid I've been too
busy for doing so earlier.

As a conclusion : we probably need to have more Arabic contributors
directly in D-I team so that Arabic-specific things are more
thoroughly tested and problems raised...