Bug#924548: bug 924548: gnome-core: does not actually install a desktop environment on s390x

[Simon McVittie]

On Thu, 16 May 2019 at 20:10:19 +0200, Paul Gevers wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2019 10:29:06 +0000 Simon McVittie <smcv at debian.org> wrote:
> > I recently changed gnome-core to install gnome-flashback instead of
> > GNOME Shell on s390x, because: GNOME Shell is uninstallable on s390x, due
> > to mozjs60 not being functional there; testing migration requires task
> > packages to be installable; and the release team were not willing to waive
> > that requirement for s390x, because d-i maintainers were concerned that
> > d-i might do the wrong thing if asked to install an uninstallable task.
> 
> mozjs60 has been fixed (and uploaded by you to unstable), if I am
> correct to actually enable this bug to be fixed.

Unfortunately not. mozjs60 was believed to have been fixed (jcristau
NMU'd it to experimental, and I re-uploaded to unstable), but gnome-shell
still FTBFS on s390x because all of its unit tests segfault. This reduces
my already low level of confidence that gnome-shell can be usable on s390x.

Sorry, I have had limited time for Debian recently due to IRL commitments,
and couldn't justify spending any more of that time on debugging s390x
issues.

As it stands at the moment, GNOME Shell failing its tests and suffering
FTBFS on s390x is not RC; and I would prefer not to take action to ignore
the test failures and let it build anyway, because if we did that and it
was later discovered not to *work* on s390x (which I suspect is the case),
my understanding is that it would be considered a grave bug.

I would feel a lot more confident about (a) mozjs working, and (b)
this series of bugs not being entirely a waste of time and motivation,
if someone with an interest in s390x had been involved somewhere along
the way.

    smcv