Bug#1084093: gnome-core: Stop installing gnome-classic / gnome-shell-extensions

[Jeremy Bícha]

Package: gnome-core
Version: 1:47+1
X-Debbugs-CC: debian-gtk-gnome at lists.debian.org

We have begun the GNOME Shell 47 transition. One change that I finally
made for 47 but I had wanted to do for a long time was to create a
separate gnome-classic package that would install the GNOME Classic
environment with the extensions it needs and to split all the
extensions in gnome-shell-extensions into separate packages that could
be individually installed or uninstalled.

I propose that we stop installing either gnome-classic or
gnome-shell-extensions as part of gnome-core (or any of our other
metapackages). I don't think it's needed for a typical GNOME user.

RHEL 7 was the first RHEL to include GNOME 3. Its default desktop UI
was GNOME Classic. I believe by the time RHEL 8 was released in 2019,
GNOME Classic was still pre-installed but the regular GNOME was
default. That's still the case for RHEL 9.

Ubuntu Desktop has never installed GNOME Classic by default (although
the long obsolete Ubuntu GNOME did).

It's easy for system administrators or users to install GNOME Classic:
it's even easier now that it has a more obvious .deb package name:
gnome-classic.

By not installing it by default, it leaves the Extensions app empty by
default (unless we otherwise want to install extensions by default
which is a different conversation) and makes it easier for users to
enable the extensions they want. It also simplifies the gear menu on
the login screen.

Technically, GNOME Core upstream still includes gnome-shell-extensions
but I intend to propose its removal from Core for GNOME 48. Removal
from Core doesn't mean it won't be maintained; it just removes it from
GNOME's recommended default install.

Thank you,
Jeremy Bícha