Bug#1060803: gnome-software: Please don't depend on `software-properties-gtk`

[Matthias Klumpp]

Am So., 14. Jan. 2024 um 15:27 Uhr schrieb Arnaud Ferraris
<aferraris at debian.org>:
> [...]
> GNOME Software does not depend on the Software Properties app.
> Installing it changes the way GNOME Software works (for example, with
> the source settings).
> [...]

That is false, GNOME Software on Debian does depend on s-p-gtk. The
reason this was implemented is that the PackageKit repository
preferences dialog does not cover all the options needed on a Debian
system, and especially not when used on an Ubuntu system.
Instead of giving users an inferior and possibly broken way of
adjusting package sources, we'd rather provide them with a proper
selection dialog.

I have since fixed a lot of PackageKit issues which caused the native
repo dialog in GS to be an abysmal experience, but tbh, it's still not
a great experience, and it doesn't cover all the features and context
s-p-g provides (that point is a bit less relevant to Debian now than
it is for Ubuntu, and the latter is dropping GS entirely from its
base, so the point for it is certainly weaker than years ago, but I
think it still stands).

> [...]
> For that reason, some people may not want it installed. And, in my
> opinion, Debian developers should not add dependencies to software they
> did not create. If a dependency should be added to GNOME Software, it
> should be done by the GNOME developers.

Certainly not, Debian's job is to integrate software to form a
cohesive operating system, and adding/removing dependencies, changing
compiler flags that affect dependency selection and applying
integration patches is an integral part of that.

Cheers,
    Matthias

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