Why am I getting gnome packages on xfce?

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1

After doing usual system update I found that the following packages were installed:

gnome-icon-theme 3.12.0-6
gnome-keyring 1:40.0-1
gnome-themes-extra 3.28-2

Since I’m using xfce is it safe to remove them?

After checking each package it seems that gnome-themes-extra is gonna remove xfce-settings

checking dependencies...
:: gtk2 optionally requires gnome-themes-standard: Default widget theme
:: libxcursor optionally requires gnome-themes-standard: fallback icon theme

Packages (2) xfce4-settings-4.16.2-1  gnome-themes-extra-3.28-2

While gnome-keyring seems to have optional dependencies with the following:

checking dependencies...
:: git optionally requires org.freedesktop.secrets: keyring credential helper
:: google-chrome optionally requires gnome-keyring: for storing passwords in GNOME keyring
:: libsecret optionally requires org.freedesktop.secrets: secret storage backend
:: xfce4-session optionally requires gnome-keyring: for keyring support when GNOME compatibility is enabled

Is there any compatibility mode in xfce which you can enable/disable?

2

The Xfce devs likely decided to reuse existing packages from GNOME – Xfce is also based on GTK+.

You can set GNOME or KDE services to launch at startup: xfce:xfce4-session:preferences [Xfce Docs]
About gnome-keyring, Xfce does not provide a keyring manager, so you may need the one from GNOME or KDE for applications that require it.

2 Likes
3

xfce buillds on the gnome toolkit GTK - base gtk pulls adwaita theme and icons - and a lot of themes inherit from the standard gnome theme.

gnome-keyring is the application which keeps track of your usernames and passwords.

you can remove it but you will regret later.

4

Thanks folks,
IMHO it seems like a naive way to mix DE since they market xfce as being light but at the same time seems to be relying on gnome stuff a lot (e.g. missing crucial stuff like keyring manager) which btw I wasn’t aware.

5

This is barely anything compared to the full GNOME desktop, in both package number and size.

6

Reusing existing packages is good engineering

The total installed size for all 3 packages mentioned in OP is 19.5MB, so I don’t think these packages require Xfce to reconsider any claim to be a lighter DE

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