#1003973 Should we pull in fwupd by default for most systems?

Package:
src:tasksel
Source:
tasksel
Submitter:
Steve McIntyre
Date:
2022-01-18 21:45:06 UTC
Severity:
normal
Tags:
#1003973#5
Date:
2022-01-18 19:13:14 UTC
From:
To:
Hi,

At the moment, fwupd will only be installed by default on systems
installed to use a Gnome desktop (checked for Buster, Bullseye and
Sid).

We should probably pull it in and enable it by default for most
systems (i.e. all desktops and servers) - it's the primary way
expected to drive updates to UEFI system firmware and the DBX
list. Maybe just for UEFI installations?

#1003973#10
Date:
2022-01-18 19:39:33 UTC
From:
To:
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Em ter., 18 de jan. de 2022 às 16:15, Steve McIntyre <steve@einval.com>
escreveu:

#1003973#15
Date:
2022-01-18 19:40:02 UTC
From:
To:
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Em ter., 18 de jan. de 2022 às 16:39, Osmario Avila <olvavila@gmail.com>
escreveu:

#1003973#20
Date:
2022-01-18 21:43:16 UTC
From:
To:
$ apt-cache rdepends fwupd
fwupd
Reverse Depends:
  fwupd-amd64-signed
  fwupd-unsigned
  fwupd-tests
  plasma-discover-backend-fwupd
  gnome-software
  gnome-firmware
  fwupdate

(I removed the duplicates and :arm64 entries from that list)

It's direct dependency list is also rather large and I don't know how to
retrieve its transitive dependency list, but seeing the following items, I
expect a LOT of GLib and other Gnome software will be dragged in:
libgusb2, libjson-glib-1.0-0, libpolkit-gobject-1-0

Not a problem on Gnome DE systems as I assume they'll get them anyway, but
others may not want those.
And then there are the (transitive) recommendations.

For me it's primarily useful on my Thinkpad *laptop* as I'm lucky that Lenovo
supports fwupd (for Thinkpads (at least?)).
On my PC/servers I've only gotten an update once for my Logitech Unifying
Receiver, but most are still on BIOS or hybrid.

When updating my laptop, I always verify that I have a working Live (rescue)
CD/disk because M$ bootloader usually gets enabled by default, so I have to
use a Live disk and then through chroot reinstall GRUB, so I can boot into
Debian again. So for me it's not an entirely smooth experience, which I think
it should be if enabled for everyone.

I really do like the project/initiative btw and I hope many more companies
will provide their updates through that system.
But it would be a stretch to say that we're there yet (or even close).

I would recommend to at least restrict it to those installations as UEFI seems
to be assumed (or even required?).

Given the above *I* would not be in favor of installing it for everyone (just
yet). But I am just one person.

My 0.02