gnome-software should (?) be separated from the packagekit

Bug #2019137 reported by Milachew
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
gnome-software (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Low
Unassigned

Bug Description

Given that the Snap Store is currently the default in Ubuntu instead of GNOME Software, the only reason GNOME Software (along with the Snap Store) can be installed is to support Flatpak applications.

In the current instance, if you want to add flatpak support, GNOME Software is installed with both the apt packagekit add-on and the flatpak plugin, which is duplication of work (Software Updater already works on updates, and Snap Store works on showing deb apps).

And since the future app store explicitly refuses [1], [2] to support flatpak applications, users who need this package format will be forced to put GNOME Software with everything I pointed out above.

Therefore, it would be very nice if the developers removed the packagekit add-on from the "gnome-software part" and made it a "plug-in for gnome-software".

I, unfortunately, have no such experience with packaging deb packages at the moment, and it turns out that it will obviously be necessary to work out both the code part (which, as far as I can see, won't be very difficult [3]), as well as the part where we will have to figure out where and how to insert the plugin as mandatory (for example, when the user completely gives up on snap packages) and as optional (because the Snap Store already stands).

Also, let me know if this needs to be sent to upstream (Debian) instead of here.
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1. https://github.com/ubuntu-flutter-community/software/issues/126
2. https://github.com/ubuntu-flutter-community/software/issues/30
3. https://build.opensuse.org/request/show/1031279

Milachew (milachew)
Changed in gnome-software (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Matthias Klumpp (ximion) wrote :

Not sure what you mean, but a GNOME Software with no PackageKit would mean that users are completely unable to install or remove any application from the Ubuntu archive, in addition to flavors not being able to use offline upgrades anymore.
So this sounds like a suggestion with tons of huge drawbacks and annoyances to users, and no (?) advantage at all.

Revision history for this message
Milachew (milachew) wrote :

Matthias, I did not suggest to remove PackageKit support completely.
I was suggesting to separate PackageKit and make it a separate plugin.

This would make it possible to install GNOME Software exclusively with the flatpak plugin, for those times when you only need to install flatpak to the current Ubuntu installations which already include the Snap Store by default.

At the moment when trying to add something related to flatpak, one more store (besides Snap Store) is installed which operates with deb packages. This makes no sense, since Snap Store already does this (and it does it, as I understand, wherever snap is installed).

Revision history for this message
Milachew (milachew) wrote :

Also, I would like to emphasize that I am essentially just suggesting that make gnome-software more "modular".

I'm not proposing to completely eliminate/cut out and not ship PackageKit as a basic package, if it's really needed somewhere.

Revision history for this message
Milachew (milachew) wrote :

Part of the work has already been done here: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ideas-for-improving-the-experience-with-flatpak-packages-in-ubuntu/39643/16?u=milachew

Also, after studying the patch, it will be better to understand what I was trying to convey.

(my idea was to separate, not remove, packagekit/dpkg from GNOME Software and offer to install it only when it is really needed, and not always when GNOME Software is installed)

Revision history for this message
Jeremy Bícha (jbicha) wrote :

Yes, I agree that this is a valid request and should be looked into.

It will need coordination with the Ubuntu desktop flavors that are not currently using Ubuntu's App Center.

Also, this is the kind of work that is done in the development version of Ubuntu (currently Noble Numbat) and is unlikely to affect existing stable Ubuntu releases like 22.04 LTS.

Changed in gnome-software (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
importance: Undecided → Low
Revision history for this message
Jeremy Bícha (jbicha) wrote :

> we will have to figure out where and how to insert the plugin as mandatory (for example, when the user completely gives up on snap packages)

This is not possible.

Revision history for this message
Jeremy Bícha (jbicha) wrote :

This has been done in Debian Unstable and I have requested a Feature Freeze Exception to land these changes in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. See https://launchpad.net/bugs/2056767

Changed in gnome-software (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Fix Committed
Revision history for this message
Steve Langasek (vorlon) wrote : Proposed package upload rejected

An upload of gnome-software to noble-proposed has been rejected from the upload queue for the following reason: "not an SRU, should be synced to oracular".

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-software - 46.1-1

---------------
gnome-software (46.1-1) unstable; urgency=high

  * New upstream release

 -- Jeremy Bícha <email address hidden> Mon, 29 Apr 2024 17:05:57 -0400

Changed in gnome-software (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
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