gnome-base/gnome-extra-apps unconditionally depends on www-client/epiphany, which is quite costly to build and very little used. It (with its webkit-gtk:6 dependency) also wastes ≃ 131MiB of disk space. This bug is similar to #811279, but I believe things have changed since it was closed on 2021-08-31. I posted a comment there on 2024-07-02 and no one replied, probably because the bug is closed. Objection: > And no, it bringing in webkit-gtk, and thus wanting to avoid it with it, is > not an argument either (not sure if it was yours), because it's far from the > only thing that does so - webkit-gtk is a core platform library and is used > by various other packages, including others that are in the same > meta-package. Answer: maybe that was true in 2021-08-31, but now epiphany is the only package (on both machines I use) pulling webkit-gtk:6. The command emerge -pvc net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 www-client/epiphany gnome-base/gnome{,-extra-apps} confirms Portage can remove webkit-gtk:6 as long as epiphany -- therefore also gnome-base/gnome-extra-apps -- is removed too. In my simulation also pretend-removed gnome-base/gnome, as it has USE=extras. On my workstation, building webkit-gtk:6 takes 2h. This unnecessary epiphany dependency costs 2h on initial Gentoo install and on every webkit-gtk upgrade, thus significantly worsening one of Gentoo's worst problems. To leverage getbinpkg, I have to disable avif jpegxl USE flags in /etc/portage/package.use/lean.conf: net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 -avif -jpegxl This workaround has two problems: 1. Many users, especially those installing Gentoo, won't come up with this solution, considering: 1.1: They may not know the cost of building webkit-gtk 1.2: The list of new packages when installing Gentoo is hundreds of lines long, so the user won't notice the specific problem. 1.3: The user might not realize epiphany is the only package pulling net-libs/webkit-gtk:6. 2. The workaround forces the user to maintain that USE package override specifically for webkit-gtk:6, updating it whenever default webkit-gtk USE flags diverge from user configuration. I don't think the number of Gentoo users with custom make.conf USE flags affecting webkit-gtk (such as avif and jpegxl) is small. USE flags are one of Gentoo's key selling points. > Where would it stop - if epiphany has a USE flag, why wouldn't > gnome-system-monitor, gnome-font-viewer, gnome-calculator, > gnome-disk-utility, ... Epiphany is a special case: 1. It is the only reverse dependency of net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 (2h build) on both machines I use. 2. It is probably one of the least-used big Gnome apps. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Emerge gnome-base/gnome-extra-apps Actual Results: 1. It brings www-client/epiphany and net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 2. net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 builds from source even with FEATURES="getbinpkg", possibly because of USE=avif or USE=jpegxl. 3. net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 wastes 2h build on install and every upgrade. www-client/epiphany and net-libs/webkit-gtk:6 waste ≃131MiB on disk. Expected Results: gnome-base/gnome-extra-apps should not hard-depend on costly, seldom used packages.
For reference, Debian sid's task-gnome-desktop does not hard-depend on Epiphany. Gnome-core only *recommends* (not hard-depend) a graphical web browser, *and* the graphical web browser recommendation can be fulfilled by Firefox, Chromium or Epiphany.
