Mono Back and Forth: Already Part of GNOME Standard Installation in Lenny
The Debian community has been arguing over the last few weeks about whether Mono should be part of the standard Debian installation. Now it appears that it has already been an integral part of the sofware ever since Lenny.
Debian spokesperson Alexander "Tolimar" Reichle-Schmehl's recent attempt to explain the GNOME project's position on including Mono in the standard Debian installation to FSF's Richard Stallman seems to have run aground. Reichle-Schmehl was mistaken on two counts, he admits in a recent blog.
It appears that the controversial C#-based Mono is already more than recommended in Lenny 5.0. The new Debian installer for Lenny is the gnome metapackage that installs it by default rather than the thinner gnome-desktop-environment used in previous versions that does not. The gnome metapackage pulls in the Mono-based Tomboy note-taking software such that the complete Mono components are installed. Only the CD installation without Internet connection is Mono-free, because Tomboy and its other Mono dependencies aren't included on the CD.
Tolimar would prefer to summarize the situation as, "Debian might install Mono with its GNOME install media, but that can still change." Up to now the dependency on Mono was based on a nonbinding recommendation, although Tolimar suggests your "Joe Average" will now have the dependency choice of Tomboy or the non-Mono Gnote during installation. The dispute over Mono in Debian ignited after Debian developers wanted to extend the simple Mono recommendation to a dependency, so it seems that the dispute might continue for some time to come.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.