Bug#909192: mate-desktop-environment: Installing sysvinit-core removes mate-desktop-environment

[Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

I think this is not happening because of the dependency on `systemd'.
That is indeed not the pid 1 part.

The root cause of this is
  dbus-user-session => libpam-systemd => systemd-shim | systemd-sysv
but systemd-shim is RC-buggy.

The bugs in systemd-shim that are keeping it out of testing are
detailed here
  https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/systemd-shim
and are currently (I think):
  https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=901404
  https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=901405
  https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=895292
  https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=893819

I would be happy to sponsor an upload to fix this.


Long term, systemd-shim is undesirable.  AIUI the main functionality
needed by the desktop environments that is provided by systemd-logind
is permissions handling: specifically, arranging that the user
currently logged in on the console can do certaain things.

An alternative approach that would probably satisfy sysvinit users
would be to simply add, as a matter of configuration, appropriate
users to a Unix group with equivalent power.

Ian.

-- 
Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>   These opinions are my own.

If I emailed you from an address @fyvzl.net or @evade.org.uk, that is
a private address which bypasses my fierce spamfilter.