gnome-core
==========
The intent of the GNOME Core metapackage is to closely match what
GNOME themselves determine to be core GNOME. The apps are listed in
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-build-meta/-/tree/master/elements/core/meta-gnome-core-shell.bst
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-build-meta/-/tree/master/elements/core/meta-gnome-core-apps.bst
However, we do make a few adjustments to better fit our user's needs:
- Firefox ESR is preferred over Epiphany
- Several Sharing extensions are Recommends to allow them to be uninstalled
+ GNOME Remote Desktop
+ GNOME User Share
+ Rygel / Media Sharing
- GNOME Initial Setup is suggested instead of pre-installed
because it isn't needed in typical installs done by the Debian Installer
- GNOME Color Manager is suggested
+ It provides some minor functionality in Setttings > Color
- GNOME Music is not included in GNOME Core but is currently include in
the gnome metapackage
+ It is an unusual app for a default music player
gnome
=====
A separate metapackage, gnome, includes several apps to supplement core GNOME.
It is installed with the GNOME task during the install of Debian.
switching default apps
======================
Sometimes it may seem useful for the metapackages to provide alternatives
to allow users who prefer an older or newer variant to install those instead.
For instance: gnome-text-editor | gedit. Debian doesn't provide a direct way
to ensure that users who upgrade to a new Debian release will have the first
alternative dependency installed from the list of alternatives. Therefore,
we generally do not provide alternative dependencies when switching default
apps.
Users are welcome to uninstall the undesired app which would uninstall
the metapackage. The metapackage provides no other functionality than
to provide a standard list of packages that should be installed.
Or users can copy the .desktop from /usr/share/applications/ to
~/.local/share/applications and add this line:
NoDisplay=true
to hide the undesired app from the list of apps in the GNOME Overview.
apt is configured to keep packages installed if they are demoted to Suggests.
GNOME Initial Setup
===================
OEMs may find it useful to pre-install gnome-initial-setup.
gnome-initial-setup has a new user mode where it provides a wizard for
the end user to create their own username and password. This only
shows up if the system does not have a regular user configured
(typical userid >=1000); which is not a typical result for a
system installed with the Debian installer.
OEMs should also ensure that appropriate locales are configured for
their target users. English spellchecking, thesaurus, hyphenation,
and LibreOffice help is pre-installed; OEMs can pre-install similar
packages for other languages. See the binary packages provided by
the tasksel source package for ideas.
