Re: default desktop: availability on all arches
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 06:11:22PM +0100, Steven Chamberlain wrote:
> On 11/09/14 16:36, Adam Borowski wrote:
> >> What happens otherwise if trying to start GNOME3 (or others)?
> >> * without 3D, with llvmpipe
> >> * without both
> >
> > llvmpipe doesn't work at all -- not ported to -- on !x86 !armhf.
> >
> >> Does it fall back gracefully to a fallback/flashback mode, and does that
> >> still work these days?
> >
> > All you get is a non-windowed screen that says:
> > Oh no! Something has gone wrong.
>
> Fair enough if a Debian desktop doesn't want to support "toy
> architectures" (I don't mind use of this term).
So you call all but two[1] of Debian architectures (14+9) "toys"[2]? Where
has the "universal operating system" gone?
> Ultimately I think we'll be saying "the default Debian _system_ is an
> amd64 machine, with modern Intel, Nvidia (or Radeon + nonfree microcode)
> graphics, running the GNOME 3 desktop", and fair enough, the Debian
> homepage could serve a direct link to a GNOME amd64/i386 ISO download.
> That install media should default to installing GNOME.
XFCE has none of Gnome3's problems, and were it not a last-minute entry, I'd
suggest going with Mate. Mate has the upside of having been the default for
every but one releases that had tasksel.
> Is that what we're *really* deciding with the process here?
> https://wiki.debian.org/DebianDesktop/Requalification/Jessie
I'd say that being available on most architectures warrants at least a row
in that table. It's more important than, say, 2 points you get for a
tasksel metapackage that _hasn't even worked until now_ -- the only desktop
task that was even shown in d-i was task-desktop. No wonders the Mate team
didn't even request one: users had the mate-desktop-environment metapackage
which was for all purposes better. Until this qualification, which suddenly
decided to give 2 points for this detail.
So what I'm suggesting is to add the "availability" or "portability" row to
the table.
[1]. armhf machines typically rely on their GPUs to have any reasonable
graphics performance, trying to emulate opengl in software isn't going to
work.
[2]. Ok, I admit hurd is a toy, so are some of -ports.
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