Bug#889912: Please do not force chrome-gnome-shell / browser integration

[Enrico Zini]

Package: gnome-core
Version: 1:3.22+8
Severity: normal

Hello,

gnome-shell currently encourages users to download extensions off the
internet, and forces a chromium plugin, always enabled by system-wide
/etc/chromium policy, to expose extension information to
extensions.gnome.org. It also exposes a firefox plugin, which I have not
investigated.

Such browser integration is a feature that I do not trust, I do not
need, and I do not want.

Finding myself unable to remove chrome-gnome-shell without breaking
gnome dependencies, I resorted to writing an equivs replacement for
chrome-gnome-shell[1], and my desktop is running perfectly, except that
if I go to extensions.gnome.org I get a message inviting me to install
gnome shell integration, which is appropriate.

That the equivs package works so well, makes a pretty good case to me
that the chrome-gnome-shell should be brought in by a Recommends: rather
than a Depends:


Enrico

[1] http://www.enricozini.org/blog/2018/debian/gnome-without-chrome-gnome-shell/


-- System Information:
Debian Release: buster/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 4.14.0-3-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_IE.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_IE.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE=en_IE.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages gnome-core depends on:
ii  adwaita-icon-theme                        3.26.1-3
ii  at-spi2-core                              2.26.2-2
ii  baobab                                    3.26.1-2
ii  caribou                                   0.4.21-4
ii  chromium                                  62.0.3202.89-1
ii  contain-gnome-shell [chrome-gnome-shell]  1.0
ii  dconf-cli                                 0.26.1-3
ii  dconf-gsettings-backend                   0.26.1-3
ii  eog                                       3.26.2-3
ii  evince                                    3.26.0-3
ii  evolution-data-server                     3.26.3-4
ii  firefox-esr                               52.6.0esr-2
ii  fonts-cantarell                           0.0.25-4
ii  gdm3                                      3.26.2.1-3
ii  gedit                                     3.22.1-3
ii  gkbd-capplet                              3.26.0-2
ii  glib-networking                           2.54.1-2
ii  gnome-backgrounds                         3.26.2-2
ii  gnome-bluetooth                           3.26.1-2
ii  gnome-calculator                          3.26.0-3+b1
ii  gnome-characters                          3.26.2-2
ii  gnome-contacts                            3.26.1-1
ii  gnome-control-center                      1:3.26.2-1
ii  gnome-disk-utility                        3.26.2-2
ii  gnome-font-viewer                         3.26.0-2
ii  gnome-keyring                             3.20.1-2
ii  gnome-logs                                3.26.2-2
ii  gnome-menus                               3.13.3-11
ii  gnome-online-accounts                     3.26.2-1
ii  gnome-online-miners                       3.26.0-2
ii  gnome-session                             3.26.1-2
ii  gnome-settings-daemon                     3.26.2-1
ii  gnome-shell                               3.26.2-4
ii  gnome-shell-extensions                    3.26.2-3
ii  gnome-software                            3.26.5-1
ii  gnome-sushi                               3.24.0-3
ii  gnome-system-monitor                      3.26.0-3
ii  gnome-terminal                            3.26.2-3
ii  gnome-themes-standard                     3.22.3-4
ii  gnome-user-docs                           3.26.2.1-1
ii  gnome-user-share                          3.18.3-3
ii  gsettings-desktop-schemas                 3.24.1-2
ii  gstreamer1.0-packagekit                   1.1.7-1
ii  gstreamer1.0-plugins-base                 1.12.4-1
ii  gstreamer1.0-plugins-good                 1.12.4-1
ii  gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio                   1.12.4-1
ii  gvfs-backends                             1.34.1-2
ii  gvfs-bin                                  1.34.1-2
ii  gvfs-fuse                                 1.34.1-2
ii  libatk-adaptor                            2.26.1-1
ii  libcanberra-pulse                         0.30-6
ii  libpam-gnome-keyring                      3.20.1-2
ii  libproxy1-plugin-gsettings                0.4.14-4
ii  nautilus                                  3.26.2-2
ii  pulseaudio                                11.1-4
ii  sound-theme-freedesktop                   0.8-2
ii  system-config-printer-common              1.5.9-3
ii  system-config-printer-udev                1.5.9-3
ii  totem                                     3.26.0-3
ii  tracker                                   2.0.2-1
ii  vino                                      3.22.0-2
ii  yelp                                      3.26.0-2
ii  zenity                                    3.26.0-2

Versions of packages gnome-core recommends:
ii  anacron                          2.3-24
ii  libproxy1-plugin-networkmanager  0.4.14-4
ii  network-manager-gnome            1.8.10-2

Versions of packages gnome-core suggests:
ii  gnome  1:3.22+8

-- no debconf information