Hi all,
The next meeting of the Fedora Workstation Working Group is planned for Tuesday, January 6 at 10:00 AM EST (15:00 UTC). This meeting is open to the public. Feel free to join.
Join link: https://meet.google.com/jod-dkmw-ibd
Tentative Agenda
#topic Future of Rust package maintenance #link https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issue/495
#topic Supporting status notifiers in Fedora Workstation by default #link https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issue/246
#topic Improving the "Third-Party Repositories" dialog #link https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issue/496
#topic Announcements and status updates
On Wed, Jan 7, 2026 at 5:52 PM Michael Catanzaro via desktop desktop@lists.fedoraproject.org wrote:
Hi all,
The next meeting of the Fedora Workstation Working Group is planned for Tuesday, January 6 at 10:00 AM EST (15:00 UTC). This meeting is open to the public. Feel free to join.
I assume you mean January 13, not January 6. :)
Will be there
Den ons 7 jan. 2026 kl 23:45 skrev Michael Catanzaro via desktop desktop@lists.fedoraproject.org:
Yes, sorry!
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Hi, here is my edit of Gemini's meeting summary.
Summary
Michael Catanzaro initiated the discussion regarding challenges in Rust package maintenance, with Fabio Valentini confirming the packages were unmaintained after the previous maintainer left Red Hat, which led to a proposal from Tomáš Popela and Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) to integrate this work into the existing packaging duty temporarily. There was a consensus to integrate the work into the packager duty, though Michael Catanzaro expressed concerns about the increased workload. The meeting also addressed supporting status notifiers in Fedora Workstation, where Luna Jernberg and Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) advocated for shipping a GNOME Shell extension until an updated specification could be developed, with Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) offering to draft the spec. The participants, including Michael Catanzaro, Luna Jernberg, and Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo), also agreed to reject the complex UI proposal for the third-party repositories dialogue, as Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) argued the existing system is adequate and enabling additional repos does not pose issues.
Details
Rust Package Maintenance Issues
Michael Catanzaro reported a problem with Rust package maintenance, as Fabio Valentini, who had been updating GNOME-related Rust packages, no longer wished to continue, having previously orphaned and then temporarily retaken them to delay automatic retirement. Fabio Valentini confirmed the issue, explaining that the packages were unmaintained after Kalev, the previous maintainer, left Red Hat, and they did not wish to officially sign up for maintenance long-term. The lack of a clear decision on who is responsible was the core problem.
Rust Packaging Specialization and Challenges
Michael Catanzaro noted that the Rust packages are special and require specialized expertise due to needing manual updates and familiarity with Rust packaging tools. Matthias Clasen suggested making the packages "less special" so they could be part of the regular packager duty, but Fabio Valentini countered that Rust's use of static linking makes it inherently different from other programming languages used by GNOME projects. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) suggested that the major effort is updating license fields.
Proposed Solutions for Rust Packaging
Tomáš Popela recommended that the existing packaging duty should onboard the packages and try to update them, with Fabio Valentini's temporary help for a few months, and only officially ask Fabio Valentini to take over if the team cannot keep up. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) agreed with this solution and suggested that someone from the Red Hat GNOME packaging team should shadow Fabio Valentini for a few days to get up to speed. Michael Catanzaro expressed reluctance to combine Rust package maintenance with the existing Fedora packaging duty, arguing that it would add significantly more work.
Discussion on Dependency Management
Fabio Valentini estimated that the number of new dependencies per release cycle is low, possibly only one new dependency. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) felt that a few new dependencies per cycle were not unreasonable, citing past instances where they packaged multiple non-Rust dependencies for GNOME. Matthias Clasen suggested that the ease of adding dependencies in Rust stacks contributes to the packaging workload. Michael Catanzaro proposed bringing back a dependency approval process, at least for Rust packages.
Ownership of New Rust Packages
Michael Catanzaro raised the issue of ownership for new Rust dependencies introduced during a packaging duty cycle, stating they would immediately orphan any they packaged. Tomáš Popela pointed out the policy against group-owned packages in Fedora, which exacerbates the individual ownership problem. The general consensus was that Red Hat needs to take responsibility, potentially by integrating the work into Fedora packager duty or creating a separate duty for Rust.
Decisions on Rust Package Maintenance
Michael Catanzaro concluded the discussion on Rust package maintenance by suggesting that the next step would be to integrate the work into the packager duty, as they would likely have more internal Red Hat discussions about it. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) noted that the Rust packaging process is becoming easier and more automated, reducing the need for new dependency reviews, but stated that the main challenge remains the lack of tooling for license auditing.
Status Notifiers in Fedora Workstation
The meeting moved to discussing issue 246 regarding supporting status notifiers in Fedora Workstation. Michael Catanzaro presented two options: wait for an upstream solution or add a GNOME Shell extension, acknowledging that an extension might eliminate the incentive for a proper upstream solution. Luna Jernberg and Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) advocated for shipping the extension until someone develops an updated spec, as applications are currently broken and it is a major user complaint.
Path Forward for Status Notifier Specification
Michael Catanzaro summarized that the blocker is the spec design and approval for a new status notifier spec that would be acceptable to GNOME. Matthias Clasen recalled that the previous attempt to create a spec was derailed by "random bike shedding" and suggested implementing the current spec without waiting for approval. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) offered to take ownership of drafting the spec and working with other stakeholders, including Allan Day, to finalize it, contingent on commitment from the GNOME side to review and implement it. The consensus shifted, with Michael Catanzaro agreeing that a spec was possible with Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo)'s involvement.
Third-Party Repositories Dialog
Michael Catanzaro proposed rejecting and closing issue 496, which suggested moving the third-party software sources dialogue from gnome-initial-setup to Anaconda and creating a complex UI table. Luna Jernberg partially agreed on rejecting the move to Anaconda but suggested it might be useful in the first setup for toggling specific repos like NVIDIA drivers or Steam. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) stressed that the UI is an Anaconda request and doesn't belong to the group, also noting that the existing toggle buttons in GNOME Software's repo dialog never fully worked until they recently fixed a bug.
Decision on Third-Party Repositories Dialog UI
Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) strongly advocated for rejecting the proposal to move the UI or make it more complex, as having additional repos enabled does not hurt, and it is easy for users to find new software or enable new hardware when needed. Michael Catanzaro noted the general agreement to reject the complex UI proposal. The group agreed to reject the proposal, though questions remained about how repository enablement currently works.
GNOME 50 Test Days and Future Install Changes
Tomáš Popela announced the dates for the GNOME 50 test days for Fedora 44, which will run from Wednesday, February 11th, to Friday, February 13th. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) mentioned that they might use those dates for the KDE test week as well. Neal Gompa (Conan Kudo) also gave a heads-up for Fedora 45, noting changes to the net install media build and a potential change to the Anaconda installer UI.
Suggested next steps
- Tomáš Popela will send the ticket asking for the GNOME 50 test days for Fedora 44.
desktop@lists.fedoraproject.org
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Luna Jernberg -
Michael Catanzaro -
Neal Gompa