Bonum Certa Men Certa

Latest Debian GNU/Linux Installs Gnote When Mono is Removed

Debian



Summary: Interesting decision from Debian developers/packagers, who help those that reject and eject Mono

It has been a while since we last wrote about Mono, the Microsoft tyrant inside GNU/Linux. Tomboy continues to be a leading Mono promotion tool even though a superior substitute (faster and smaller) written in C++ exists and is freely available without the Microsoft patent risk.



One contributor of ours said: "when I uninstalled 'mono-runtime' it removed a bunch of mono stuff. Then it continued on to install gnote, something I had not requested.

"I'm wondering what went wrong with the Debian team that they allowed Mono in there at all."

"Debian should be made clean again," he added. "It used to be the distro that was most about Freedom. I guess that crown has now moved to Trisquel and Gnewsense instead.

"Below is a capture from the terminal of a freshly installed Debian 7.1 (Wheezy) system. I used the debian-7.0.0-i386-netinst.iso image from their web site. I'll keep a snapshot of that VM around for a day so if more is needed."

Here is the terminal output:




root@debian ~# lsb_release -rd Description: Debian GNU/Linux 7.1 (wheezy) Release: 7.1 root@debian:~# dpkg -l mono* Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==============-============-============-================================= un mono-1.0-runti (no description available) un mono-2.0-runti (no description available) ii mono-4.0-gac 2.10.8.1-8 all Mono GAC tool (for CLI 4.0) un mono-common (no description available) ii mono-gac 2.10.8.1-8 all Mono GAC tool un mono-jit (no description available) ii mono-runtime 2.10.8.1-8 i386 Mono runtime un monodoc-gtk2.0 (no description available) root@debian:~# dpkg -l gnote Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==============-============-============-================================= un gnote (no description available) root@debian:~# apt-get -y remove mono-runtime Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following extra packages will be installed: gnote libpcrecpp0 The following packages will be REMOVED: gnome libdbus-glib1.0-cil libdbus1.0-cil libgconf2.0-cil libglib2.0-cil libgmime2.6-cil libgtk2.0-cil libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil libmono-addins0.2-cil libmono-cairo4.0-cil libmono-corlib4.0-cil libmono-i18n-west4.0-cil libmono-i18n4.0-cil libmono-posix4.0-cil libmono-security4.0-cil libmono-sharpzip4.84-cil libmono-system-configuration4.0-cil libmono-system-core4.0-cil libmono-system-drawing4.0-cil libmono-system-security4.0-cil libmono-system-xml4.0-cil libmono-system4.0-cil mono-4.0-gac mono-gac mono-runtime tomboy The following NEW packages will be installed: gnote libpcrecpp0 0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 26 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 3,421 kB of archives. After this operation, 20.8 MB disk space will be freed. Get:1 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main libpcrecpp0 i386 1:8.30-5 [126 kB] Get:2 http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main gnote i386 0.8.3-1 [3,295 kB] Fetched 3,421 kB in 6s (561 kB/s)

(Reading database ... 143081 files and directories currently installed.) Removing gnome ... Removing tomboy ... Removing libdbus-glib1.0-cil ... Removing libdbus-glib1.0-cil from Mono Removing libdbus1.0-cil ... Removing libdbus1.0-cil from Mono Removing libgconf2.0-cil ... Removing libgconf2.0-cil from Mono Removing libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil ... Removing libmono-addins-gui0.2-cil from Mono Removing libgtk2.0-cil ... Removing libgtk2.0-cil from Mono Removing libgmime2.6-cil ... Removing libgmime2.6-cil from Mono Removing libglib2.0-cil ... Removing libglib2.0-cil from Mono Removing libmono-addins0.2-cil ... Removing libmono-addins0.2-cil from Mono Removing libmono-cairo4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system-drawing4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system-core4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-sharpzip4.84-cil ... Removing libmono-posix4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-i18n-west4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-i18n4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system-configuration4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system-security4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-system-xml4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-security4.0-cil ... Removing libmono-corlib4.0-cil ... Removing mono-runtime ... Removing mono-gac ... * Removing packages from mono Removing mono-4.0-gac ... Processing triggers for gconf2 ... Processing triggers for shared-mime-info ... Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ... Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ... Processing triggers for gnome-menus ... Processing triggers for menu ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Selecting previously unselected package libpcrecpp0:i386. (Reading database ... 141636 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking libpcrecpp0:i386 (from .../libpcrecpp0_1%3a8.30-5_i386.deb) ... Selecting previously unselected package gnote. Unpacking gnote (from .../gnote_0.8.3-1_i386.deb) ... Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0:i386 ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ... Processing triggers for gnome-menus ... Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ... Setting up libpcrecpp0:i386 (1:8.30-5) ... Setting up gnote (0.8.3-1) ...



"They could have saved all that trouble, space and bandwidth by going with Gnote to begin with," he added. "Even just looking at the volume of dependencies it is superior."

This whole exploration started because as a Debian user myself I just noticed that Mono is included in the desktop by default. Nobody really needs it; this is only taking up a lot of valuable space and raises various types of risk.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Empty Suits of IBM Managers (NIH or "Nothing Invented Here")
IBM's management adopted the business model of parasites
Dr. Stallman’s Work Will Never be Considered 'Mainstream' Because He Rejects and Works Against the So-called 'Mainstream'
Try to be more like Stallman
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part IX - Cocaine Addicts in Charge of the EPO Attacking Families of EPO Staff
Things like being high-profile and being a serious drug addict aren't opposites
 
SLAPP Censorship - Part 22 Out of 200: When You Complain People Impersonate You in IRC (But You Yourself Impersonate People in IRC and Lock Them Out of Their IRC Handles)
We'll cover this with direct evidence some time soon
Gemini Links 24/03/2026: Junk Drawer Time Capsule and Building Outside Alire
Links for the day
Not Much LLM Slop About "Linux" Lately, It Only Ever Comes From the Same Few Sites
As long as only few such sites use LLM slop we can skip and avoid them
Links 24/03/2026: "Epic Lays Off Over 1000 Employees" and US in Financial Trouble According to the Fed
Links for the day
The "Media" Does Not Only 'Miss' Mass Layoffs
"The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it"
2012: 'Secure' (Microsoft-Controlled) Boot Has Not (Yet) Been Made Obligatory. 2026: systemd Has Not Implemented Age Verification
should we stop calling "nazi" everyone we don't agree with?
More Threats (Including Physical Threats) Against Us Are a Dumb Move
It's like a "hit list" (targets list) and I shall keep the police duly informed
New Example of Pentagon in "Feminist" Clothing Inside Fake News of Publishers Paid to Promote Outsourcing to US ("Clown Computing") and American Slop
Google now pays money to promote Google as a friend of women
Hating Techrights is a Career
but is it good for civil society?
The New Layoffs: 'Silent Layoffs', 'Secret Layoffs', 'Quiet Layoffs', 'Passive Layoffs' 'Stealth Layoffs', and Unannounced Layoffs Disguised as Return-to-Office (RTO Mandates)
The US needs to revisit and fix the WARN Act
What Feminism in Science Means (Codes of Conduct Don't Tackle the Real Issues)
Universality matters, more so in a project or community that's said to build the "universal operating system" (Debian)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 21 Out of 200: It's About Behaviour Online, Not How Much Money From Shadowy Third Parties Gets Spent on Lawyers and Two Barristers
75+ KG of legal papers, 2 cases, 2 barristers (one hiding in the metadata) and maybe two law firms (also hiding in the metadata) against two modest people in Manchester seems disproportionate and vindicative
Links 24/03/2026: "Airports on ICE" and "Have You Paid Your “Intuit Tax”?"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/03/2026: Slop Interview and Why Slop Makes Lousy Code
Links for the day
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk This Thursday at the University of Bologna (Italy)
Hardly the first time he speaks in Bologna
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 23, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 23, 2026
Gemini Links 23/03/2026: "Mandatory" Bad Things and Dangers of Perfection Aspirations
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 20 Out of 200: All Roads Lead to Rome and to GAFAM Funding
Now about 10% into this series
Last Week's EPO Strike Was the Biggest (Highest Participation Rate), Hours Ago General Assembly Discussed Next (Growing) Intensity of Strikes
Well done and well attended
Mass Layoffs at HashiCorp, IBM Hid Them
The media did not mention those layoffs
Microsoft Downgraded on Concerns (Lack of Growth) Amid Silent Layoffs in 2026
The press isn't functioning anymore
Links 23/03/2026: Gulf Water at Risk, Heatwave in Malaysia
Links for the day
Slop Means False, New Article by Cybershow
"We are living in a world that is rapidly divesting from reality."
Debianism election 2026 community poll created, everybody can vote
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/03/2026: "Shocking Peter Thiel Antichrist Lectures", Robert Mueller Remembered
Links for the day
The Scandal Bigger Than IBM/Red Hat Layoffs is the de Facto "Media Blackout" About Those Layoffs
So we have a media crisis, aside from the economic crises
Gemini Links 23/03/2026: Geminispace/Elpher Enhancement and the Cerberus Cinco
Links for the day
Fear is Not a Legitimate Factor
Smart people know that trying to prevent moral people from doing the "Right Thing" will backfire
Fuel Autonomy and What It Teaches Us About Software Autonomy (or Software Freedom)
Need we wait until a "software Pearl Harbor" or protect ourselves proactively by weaning ourselves off of GAFAMware?
Scheduled Maintenance This Coming Wednesday
Other than that, all is the same and we carry on as usual
Most Press Articles About IBM Are LLM Slop, Sometimes With Slop Images
IBM basically laid off almost 1,000 people last week [...] At the moment about 75% of the 'articles' we see about IBM (in recent days) are some kind of slop
Links 23/03/2026: Security Breaches, Energy Shortages, Another SRA Scandal, and Patents on Nature
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 22, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 22, 2026
Streisand Effect and Justice
This weekend this site has served over 8 million Web requests
Gemini Links 22/03/2026: "Woman of Tomorrow" and "First Steps in Geminispace"
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 19 Out of 200: They Were Ill-prepared for Tough Questions in Cross-Examination
Very ill-prepared for the deteriorating situation caused by their clients' past behaviour towards many people, including high-profile figures who offered to testify
The Media Sold Out to Slop Bros
If you wish for the hype to stop, then stop participating in it
EPO Strike a Week From Now, After That Strikes Can Become Permanent
A week from tomorrow there will be another strike
The Only Non-IBM Staff in Fedora Council/Leadership Attacks Booting Freedom (Just Like the Master Wants)
Last week IBM laid off almost 1,000 people in Confluent and the media didn't write anything about it, so don't expect anyone in what's left of the media to comment on Fedora's demise and silent layoffs at Red Hat
Just Like a Founder of XBox Said, Microsoft XBox is Collapsing, Management Continue to Jump Ship
Nowadays Microsoft tries to promote this idea that Windows is XBox and XBox is Windows
Links 22/03/2026: Slop Triggers Emergency at Meta, Energy Prices Rise Sharply
Links for the day
Links 22/03/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' in Legal Trouble (Plagiarism, Distortion, Misrepresentation); Facebook/Meta Kills Off "Horizon Worlds"
Links for the day
Racism Dressed Up as "Choice"
Racism is rampant at IBM
Probably an All-Time Record
Our investment in our own SSG is paying off
Your Site Should Implement Its Own Search (Before It's Too Late)
GAFAM was never trustworthy
Gemini Links 22/03/2026: LLM Slop Attacks USENET, Announcing Pig (New Game in Gemini Protocol)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 21, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 21, 2026