Bug#765839: task-desktop: installs a non-working dekstop environment on all but 2 archs
Source: task-desktop
Version: 3.28
Severity: important
Hi!
By dropping gnome-fallback, Gnome3 has effectively dropped support for all
architectures other than amd64 and i386 (possibly armhf on Nvidia Tegra?).
Yet in current debian-installer, gnome3 is installed by default, only to
show:
====================================================
Oh no! Something has gone wrong
A problem has occured and the system can't recover.
Please log out and try again.
====================================================
with a [Log Out] button that doesn't even work.
This is because Gnome3 requires specific GL rasterizers that are provided:
* in hardware: Nvidia (inc. nouveau), Radeon (free and non-free), Intel
drivers, but not eg. Mali proprietary
* in software: llvmpipe
llvmpipe is compiled only on five architectures: amd64, i386, armhf,
kfreebsd-amd64 and kfreebsd-i386. Out of these five, kfreebsd-* don't count
because systemd. In theory, Gnome3 should work with llvmpipe on armhf, but
sadly, in practice it doesn't, in any setup I tried. I don't know gnome's
underpinnings enough to debug this further, beyond installing it and giving
it a working X11 setup.
I have tried Gnome3 on:
* an armhf laptop, Omega OAN133, with:
* framebuffer
* proprietary Mali drivers
* an armhf "desktop", hardkernel Odroid U2 (also Mali)
* powerpc in qemu
(using an existing system on real metal, d-i on qemu)
Out of other -desktop tasks, I've checked that XFCE, LXDE, KDE and Mate
work, and Cinnamon does not (not surprising as it's a Gnome3 front).
Proposed solutions:
1. revert to xfce by default :p
2. make task-desktop arch:any, with gnome first on amd64 and i386, and xfce
(or mate...) elsewhere
3. remove the task-gnome-desktop package on !amd64 !i386
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