Re: MBF: Removal of GTK2 from forky

Hi Jeremy,

On Thu Jan 8, 2026 at 8:38 PM GMT, Jeremy B=C3=ADcha wrote:
> GTK 2 has been unmaintained upstream since the end of 2020 when GTK 4
> was released. There isn't anyone to maintain GTK 2. The Debian GNOME
> team is trying to remove GTK 2 from Debian, not orphan it.

Thanks for clarifying your intent!

As volunteers, we should only work on what we want to, so the GNOME team=20
should absolutely not be compelled to maintain GTK2 if you no longer=20
want to.

I respect your opinion that Debian would be better off without GTK2 in=20
the archive. However, I don't agree with it. The two pillars of my=20
position are: removing this forces the removal of useful dependent=20
programs in the archive which have active users; it also makes it more=20
difficult for users to run dependent programs *outside* the archive,=20
including software of historical significance. IMHO this fall foul of SC=20
=C2=A74.

The correct mechanism for the GNOME team to stop maintaining GTK2 is to=20
orphan it, and to do so sooner rather than later, to give any others who=20
may wish to pick it up the most time to do so and work through=20
transitional problems, well ahead of the next release freeze.

This is perhaps the best place to start asking: who (else) is interested=20
in picking up GTK2?


--=20

=F0=9F=91=B1=F0=9F=8F=BB	Jonathan Dowland
=E2=9C=8E	 [email protected]
=F0=9F=94=97	https://jmtd.net