I think we've reached the point when we can remove the very old GTK2
package from the official repositories. I recently dropped the GTK2
version of LXDE, and there are only a few applications left that still
depend on GTK2:
(… pkglist …)
Most of these have no active development a long time ago. If no one has
objections, I'll drop these packages to AUR in the next days if it's
not possible to build them without GTK2.
Hello, thanks for building the list. NOTE: steam-native-runtime is
missing from the list!
Shifting away from GTK2 is a good idea. And any package package that
doesn’t build due to gtk2 dependency and is not in active development,
should IMO be removed. But other than that I also believe due care is
needed and there is no haste. Unless of course gtk2 itself starts to be
a serious burden or is at risk of becoming orphaned.
Many of the packages listed are not niche. To name a few that
instantly caught my eye: pidgin, leafpad, hexchat, gimp-nufraw. To limit
subjective perspective’s effect on my opinion, I checked with
pkgstats.[tab:1] So this isn’t just a distortion from my singular
vantage point.
While some projects are either dead (hexchat) or dormant/stalled
(leafpad, gimp-nufraw), others are active (pidgin). Being in the first
group is not making a package obsolete either, even if users should
think about searching for alternatives.
If all these packages are moved to AUR, what happens with the now
unneeded gtk2 package?
Cheers, mpan
[tab:1] pkgstats results.
[WARNING: statistical data ahead! Values have to be interpreted with
proper understanding of their meaning, context, and influences!]
Package Popularity [%]
--------------------------------
steam-native-runti 12.84
calf 12.04
hexchat 5.30
pidgin 5.30
nitrogen 5.01
bless 3.79
leafpad 3.51
gimp-nufraw 2.65
mono-tools 2.12
gtk-chtheme 2.10
amsynth 2.05
xboard 1.82
eq10q 1.79
gtk2fontsel 1.73
gkrellm 1.62
parcellite 1.57
hexter 1.28
xdialog 1.18
trayer 1.00
xlockmore 0.92
osdlyrics 0.71
alltray 0.55
nspluginwrapper 0.50
gpsim 0.46
sbxkb 0.30
