Appstream: Install data files ( icons etc ) at proper location during packaging
Categories
(Core :: Widget: Gtk, defect, P3)
Tracking
()
People
(Reporter: sidtosh4, Unassigned)
References
(Blocks 1 open bug)
Details
Attachments
(2 files)
gs-firefox-system-updates.png
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:109.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/115.0
Steps to reproduce:
Tried accessing firefox in GNOME Software app ( https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-software ).
Actual results:
Firefox is not displayed as an app in gnome-software. It is shown as a system component, which means users cannot view it as a app to contribute, donate to firefox etc.
Expected results:
Firefox should be displayed as an app in gnome-software.
The issue here is that:
- Firefox should provide a valid appstream metadata file ( Refer https://wiki.debian.org/AppStream/Guidelines )
- Firefox should not package icons etc as symlinks as appstream-generator ( https://github.com/ximion/appstream-generator ), does not process symbolic links in Debian / Ubuntu etc.
Appstream Generator failure log: https://appstream.debian.org/sid/main/issues/firefox-esr.html
Refer: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-software/-/issues/2314
Refer: https://github.com/ximion/appstream-generator/issues/119
Refer: https://salsa.debian.org/mozilla-team/firefox/-/merge_requests/5
Sample app displayed in GNOME Software, where user contribution / donation links are made available to the user.
Without fixing this issue, firefox will not be listed as an app in GNOME Software, and other app centers too.
This also means that users cannot donate to firefox through app stores like GNOME Software etc ( Refer firefox-donate.png screenshot above )
From https://github.com/ximion/appstream-generator/issues/119#issuecomment-1705770978,
it appears that firefox packages icons in non-standard locations, forcing Debian / Ubuntu to solve it via symbolic links, which causes appstream-generator to ignore firefox package.
Refer: https://salsa.debian.org/mozilla-team/firefox/-/blob/release/master/debian/browser.links.in
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Comment 5•2 years ago
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Moving this to Core > Widget: Gtk component, to allow our engineers to take a closer look at it.
Please see also Bug 1751153.
Just to reiterate. There are 2 issue here:
1. Firefox should provide appstream metadata:
- Some work was already done in this regard in Debian downstream. Refer: https://salsa.debian.org/mozilla-team/firefox/-/merge_requests/5
- Refer https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Distributions/AppStream/
- Refer https://wiki.debian.org/AppStream/Guidelines for Debian specific guidelines
2. Firefox should install icons in standard locations:
- This is because appstream-generator ( https://github.com/ximion/appstream-generator ), does not process symbolic links in Debian / Ubuntu etc. due to reasons mentioned in https://github.com/ximion/appstream-generator/issues/119
- appstream-generator is the utility which combines the appstream data from all apps in a distro and provide the data in a single file. This data file is downloaded during package install / updates etc, so the OS will always have the latest appstream data.
Once both these issues are fixed, firefox appstream metadata will be updated in the following locations
- https://appstream.debian.org/sid/main/issues/firefox-esr.html
- https://appstream.debian.org/sid/main/metainfo/firefox-esr.html (404 due to issues reported in above link)
With this, app stores like GNOME Software will properly display Firefox (i.e Fixes https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-software/-/issues/2314 )
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Comment 7•2 years ago
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Most of distros have recent Firefox installed and all those set - so which distro do you use? Do you miss recent Firefox there?
I'm running Debian unstable ( updated very frequently with new packages )
115.2.0esr-1 - https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/firefox-esr
117.0-1 - https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/firefox
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Comment 9•2 years ago
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Well, Firefox is intended to be shipped by distros so you may ask to include recent Firefox in Debian unstable if you're missing it there. Mozilla doesn't provide .deb or .rpm packages for Firefox to install all needed files.
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Comment 10•2 years ago
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AFAIK only firefox flatpak is available at flathub.
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Comment 11•2 years ago
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Just to be clear, I have the below (which are the latest firefox versions) installed in my debian unstable system.
| Release Edition | Platform | Version | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox Standard Release | Desktop | 117.0 | 2023-08-29 |
| Firefox Extended Support Release | Desktop | 115.2.0 | 2023-08-29 |
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Comment 12•2 years ago
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The Flathub build of Firefox includes an appdata file, which lives at https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/blob/master/taskcluster/docker/firefox-flatpak/org.mozilla.firefox.appdata.xml.in. It would be nice if this were provided as part of Firefox itself rather than the Flatpak build, because that would open the door to translating it into all the languages Firefox supports.
(Ditto the .desktop file – the one at https://github.com/mozilla/gecko-dev/blob/master/taskcluster/docker/firefox-flatpak/org.mozilla.firefox.desktop has translations manually merged, but it seems weird to maintain it that way rather than as part of Firefox itself. I'm sure there is a reason!)
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Comment 13•2 years ago
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I'm not sure it's possible to translate desktop and appdata.xml.in files the same way as Firefox is translated. Firefox translation lives in separated files and it's paired with Firefox when it starts (AFAIK) and it's similar to extensions.
desktop/appdata.xml files are translated statically and all translation is merged in one file and it's processed during package installation and not runtime.
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Comment 14•9 months ago
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This is still a problem with firefox-esr in latest Debian testing/sid. I have filled the following downstream ticket before I found this upstream one:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1091523
Please, consider fixing this. It prevents the Firefox ESR app from being able to be uninstalled (or installed on systems without its package preinstalled) in a user-friendly way and users are also not able to view its details page, write user reviews etc.
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Updated•9 months ago
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Comment 15•7 months ago
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This problem is still present in latest Debian testing/sid. Was there any progress about copying the desktop icons to the correct location instead of symlinking them?
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Comment 16•7 months ago
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Related downstream (Debian) MR: https://salsa.debian.org/mozilla-team/firefox/-/merge_requests/10
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Comment 17•7 months ago
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It would be great if the Debian MR could be reviewed and possibly merged.
Missing AppStream metadata (caused by the symlinked desktop icon) are a major problem for end users, as it prevents them from being able to (un)install Firefox using a GUI, view details for the Firefox package or write user reviews. This significantly degrades the user experience and leaves users without any easy way to uninstall the pre-installed Firefox app or install it on systems where it is not pre-installed. Firefox is also the only pre-installed app on Debian that does not have valid AppStream metadata.
If this should be merged into the upstream instead of the downstream Git repository, I would greatly appreciate if someone could point me to the correct place.
Thanks!
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Comment 18•7 months ago
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Sorry, here is a MR for the actual firefox-esr (esr128) branch: https://salsa.debian.org/mozilla-team/firefox/-/merge_requests/11
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Comment 19•6 months ago
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Both the MRs are still waiting for review (and/or merge) from Mike or someone else from the Debian mozilla-team.
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