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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0010856Talertaler-rustpublic2026-01-08 00:00
Reporterdavidhedlund Assigned ToChristian Grothoff  
PrioritynormalSeverityminorReproducibilityhave not tried
Status closedResolutionnot fixable 
Product Versiongit (master) 
Target Version1.4Fixed in Version1.4 
Summary0010856: Make Ubuntu installation independent of "universe" repository
DescriptionSection 2.3.3 "Installing the GNU Taler binary packages on Ubuntu" states:

    Make sure to have universe in your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources (after main) as we depend on some packages from Ubuntu universe.Ubuntu's multiverse repository

The "universe" repository contains packages with non-free licenses, which contradicts GNU Taler being free software. The instruction should specify only which free software dependencies are actually needed, or clarify that only specific free packages from universe are required.

Link: https://docs.taler.net/taler-merchant-manual.html#installing-the-gnu-taler-binary-packages-on-ubuntu
TagsNo tags attached.

Activities

davidhedlund

2026-01-07 17:37

reporter   ~0027208

Sorry, the universe repository is free (I confused it with the multiverse repository). Let me rephrase this issue:

https://docs.taler.net/taler-merchant-manual.html#installing-the-gnu-taler-binary-packages-on-ubuntu says
       Make sure to have universe in your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources (after main) as we depend on some packages from Ubuntu universe.Ubuntu's multiverse repository

The issue is that the universe repository cannot be used in Trisquel, see https://bugs.gnunet.org/view.php?id=10834

So please change the title to: Make Ubuntu installation independent of "universe" repository to make it compatible with Trisquel

Christian Grothoff

2026-01-07 22:37

manager   ~0027212

Again, how? We cannot change our dependencies, and we cannot force Ubuntu to move our dependencies into main.

davidhedlund

2026-01-07 23:06

reporter   ~0027213

While overnight changes to dependencies aren't feasible, achieving compatibility with Trisquel remains a worthwhile long-term objective.

davidhedlund

2026-01-07 23:17

reporter   ~0027216

Thank you very much for your helpful work on this project. Taler matters a lot because it helps build better tools for private online payments that people can trust and use easily every day.

Christian Grothoff

2026-01-07 23:59

manager   ~0027217

Well, I think it's the other way round: we have to hope (and maybe push for) those dependencies to become part of mainline Ubuntu -- or Trisquel. That's better than expecting the dependencies to go away, that's not likely. And again, it's not a matter of the dependencies being non-free, Universe just means that Canonical doesn't offer commercial support for those (which makes it completely unclear to me why Trisquel couldn't just use/support all of them).

Christian Grothoff

2026-01-08 00:00

manager   ~0027218

Again, nothing for us to do, the dependencies *are* free, distributions not packaging some FLOSS dependency of ours is really only something the respective distros can fix, so this should be filed against _their_ bugtracker, not ours.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2026-01-07 16:42 davidhedlund New Issue
2026-01-07 17:37 davidhedlund Note Added: 0027208
2026-01-07 22:37 Christian Grothoff Note Added: 0027212
2026-01-07 22:37 Christian Grothoff Status new => feedback
2026-01-07 23:06 davidhedlund Note Added: 0027213
2026-01-07 23:06 davidhedlund Status feedback => new
2026-01-07 23:17 davidhedlund Note Added: 0027216
2026-01-07 23:59 Christian Grothoff Note Added: 0027217
2026-01-07 23:59 Christian Grothoff Summary Make Ubuntu installation independent of nonfree "universe" repository => Make Ubuntu installation independent of "universe" repository
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Assigned To => Christian Grothoff
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Status new => closed
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Resolution open => not fixable
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Fixed in Version => 1.4
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Note Added: 0027218
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Product Version => git (master)
2026-01-08 00:00 Christian Grothoff Target Version => 1.4