cannot install console-cyrllic without choosing a Cyrllic keyboard layout

Binary package hint: console-cyrillic

Summary:

- config breaks if you don't have a Cyrllic keyboard
- description claims it contains Cyrllic fonts (really just depends on console-terminus)
- possibly wider-use utils (displayfont, dumppsf, makeacm, mkvgafont, raw2psf) should be split out

Details:

Ubuntu 10.10 "Mutant Mongoose", i386, package console-cyrllic version 0.9-16

Transcript (in adequate ASCII rendition):

==============================================================================
$ sudo apt-get install console-cyrllic ##### actually part of a larger install
Selecting previously deselected package console-cyrillic.
Unpacking console-cyrillic (from .../console-cyrillic_0.9-16_all.deb) ...
Setting up console-cyrillic (0.9-16) ...
Package configuration ##### <<=== here it's running `dpkg --configure console-cyrillic`
Cyrillic on Console
 Please choose the keyboard layout to load at boot time.
 Choose the keyboard layout
    Belarusian
    Bulgarian BDS
    Bulgarian phonetic
    Kazakh
    Kazakh with letter IO
    Macedonian
    Mongolian
    Russian
    Russian Winkeys
    Serbian
    Ukrainian
    Ukrainian Winkeys
 <Ok> <Cancel>
<Cancel>
Unknown keyboard

dpkg: error processing console-cyrillic (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 2
...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Errors were encountered while processing:
 console-cyrillic
==============================================================================

I don't have any sort of Cyrllic keyboard, nor do I want to install a layout for one. I installed the package for its supposed payload of Cyrllic *fonts*. So I was forced to choose "<Cancel>".

This leaves the package in a half-installed state. Corresponding excerpt from /var/log/dpkg.log:

==============================================================================
2010-10-14 11:47:07 install console-cyrillic <none> 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:47:07 status half-installed console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:47:07 status half-installed console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:47:08 status half-installed console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:47:11 status unpacked console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:47:12 status unpacked console-cyrillic 0.9-16
...
2010-10-14 11:51:15 configure console-cyrillic 0.9-16 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:51:15 status unpacked console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:51:15 status unpacked console-cyrillic 0.9-16
2010-10-14 11:51:15 status half-configured console-cyrillic 0.9-16
==============================================================================

I eventually figured out that console-cyrllic doesn't actually provide any fonts itself, it just implies them by depending on console-terminus. So I will remove it to get rid of the broken package.

console-cyrllic does contain some potentially useful utilities (displayfont, dumppsf, makeacm, mkvgafont, raw2psf) so it really ought to be installable without committing to an unwanted alternative keyboard layout. Or split those utilities out and clarify the package description of console-cyrllic. The description currently says:

   This package provides Cyrillic support on the Linux console with great number of customizations:
   ...
   3) Many screen fonts.

-- strongly implying that the fonts come from this package rather than a dependency.