Fedora Workstation Working Group Meeting 2025-09-09 (Gemini Summary)

Summary

The GNOME 49.rc mega update was prepared and appears ready, fixing most 
severe known issues for GNOME packages hosted on download.gnome.org, as 
discussed by Michael Catanzaro and Matthias Clasen. Michael Catanzaro 
expressed concerns about missing packages and the ownership of 
approximately half of the packages by inactive contributors, leading to 
a discussion on update strategies. The group decided against using a 
wide gamut background for Fedora but will mention it in release notes 
or at the release party. Jef Spaleta highlighted the importance of 
`bootc` development and aligning efforts for the Fedora 44 release 
cycle, leading to plans by Matthias Clasen to invite Sebastian Wick and 
Timothee to future meetings to discuss Flatpaks and Silverblue 
developments.

Details

GNOME 49.rc Mega Update

Michael Catanzaro provided an update on the GNOME 49.rc mega update, 
stating that it was prepared last week and seems ready as no one has 
complained yet. Matthias Clasen noted that this update fixes all known 
issues, and Michael Catanzaro clarified that it updates GNOME packages 
hosted on download.gnome.org for which they have commit access. Luna 
Jernberg initially confused this with the upstream version, leading to 
a discussion about reviewing the list of owned packages and their 
update strategy.

Missing Packages and Ownership

Michael Catanzaro identified that `libgexiv2` was missing from their 
package list and expressed concern that approximately half of the 
packages are owned by individuals who no longer contribute to Fedora. 
They mentioned the need for a strategy to ensure all packages are in 
good shape, differentiating between those updated automatically by 
mclazy, by Packit, and those not updated automatically at all.

GNOME 49 Final Release and Test Days

Matthias Clasen noted that the GNOME 49 final releases would trickle in 
this week, and Michael Catanzaro anticipated that the transition from 
RC to final would not be difficult, as breakage is uncommon. Matthias 
Clasen decided to reach out to Adam or Kamil regarding a test day 
request for the GNOME 49 final release.

Wide Gamut Backgrounds in GNOME

Matthias Clasen proposed using an upstream GNOME background that 
supports wide gamut display to showcase new background capabilities in 
Fedora. Michael Catanzaro raised a concern that users without wide 
gamut monitors would not see the background as intended. After some 
discussion, including input from Luna Jernberg and Tomáš Popela, the 
group decided against using the proposed "pixel pusher" background for 
Fedora, opting to stick with the existing Fedora wallpaper. However, 
they considered mentioning the wide gamut background in release notes 
or at the release party.

Bootc and Immutable OS

Jef Spaleta expressed their focus on unblocking `bootc` development, 
particularly concerning Silverblue, and sought to understand any 
immediate blockers for the workstation group. Luna Jernberg indicated 
limited experience with `bootc` and immutable systems, focusing on 
Swedish translations. Matthias Clasen connected immutability with 
Flatpaks, prompting Jef Spaleta to acknowledge Flatpaks as an important 
topic for future discussion due to their alignment with OCI and the 
sunsetting of OS3.

Future of Flatpaks and Silverblue

Matthias Clasen plans to invite Sebastian Wick to a future meeting to 
discuss current developments in the Flatpak space, a suggestion 
supported by Luna Jernberg. Tomáš Popela suggested inviting Timothee 
as well, highlighting their significant contributions to advancing 
Silverblue. Jef Spaleta emphasized the need to align efforts for the 
Fedora 44 release cycle to make progress on `bootc` and related 
technologies, aiming for a less divisive and more collaborative future 
across the ecosystem.

General Updates

Jens-Ulrik Petersen announced the i18n test week for general awareness. 
Matthias Clasen provided a small update on the Glycin transition, 
having implemented gdk-pixbuf animation based on Glycin to ensure GIF 
animations continue to work in GNOME 49. Luna Jernberg mentioned they 
had been traveling and were still recovering from illness, planning to 
return to GNOME-related work when feeling better.

Suggested next steps

 * Michael Catanzaro will add the gexiv2 package to tracking 
spreadsheet and follow up with Tomáš Popela and Felipe to review the 
list of packages the group owns and how they update them.
 * Matthias Clasen will reach out to Adam or Kamil to ask for a test 
date.
 * Matthias Clasen will reach out to Sebastian Wick and invite him for 
one of the next weeks to talk about the future of flatpack.


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