Leverage AppStream metadata for intelligent driver and codec selection

[korewaChino]

Proposal: Use AppStream Metadata to Drive Driver and Codec Selection

No other distribution seems to have fully leveraged the AppStream metadata standard for intelligently selecting drivers and codecs. The semantics and flexibility of AppStream make it very useful for plug-and-play scenarios, and could dramatically improve device setup.

Approach

• Modalias-based selection: On setup, Taidan can query hardware using modalias and select drivers, firmware, and supporting modules not by package name, but by which device IDs/modalias strings they actually serve.
• Plug-and-play support: This entirely avoids hardcoding package names and allows nearly seamless, device-based setup of drivers (including codecs and firmware) for any supported hardware present on the system.
• Automatic discovery: The approach makes optimal use of AppStream's semantics (provides, modalias, firmware, etc.) for matching hardware to system components during install and runtime.

Implementation Steps

• Use appstreamcli to query the AppStream DB to discover which modules/packages provide support for detected hardware, including drivers, codecs, firmware, and other pluggable modules.
• Install drivers based on detected hardware

[lleyton]

Something that we could do is have a separate system daemon that can check for the presence of new devices, and prompt the user to install codecs. At least something to think about.