chromium-browser package does NOT install an AppData file

[Mario Sánchez Prada]

In order for Chromium Browser to integrate properly with software centers (e.g. GNOME Software), an additional XML file with metadata needs to be installed under /usr/share/metainfo, in the form of an "AppData file", containing the relevant bits according to the AppStream specification:

  https://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs

Fortunately, upstream has included that file in the chromium repository for a while (since [1]) and, as far as I can see, Fedora is already installing that file in its place, see https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/chromium/blob/9cdea2b9/f/chromium.spec#_1462

I have quickly looked into the .install and rules files in of the chromium-browser package for Ubuntu [2][3] and I could not find any trace of this happening, so I guess all that would remain here would be to adapt the debian packaging files to make sure that it gets installed too for Ubuntu, similar to what Fedora and other distros do already.

[1] https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/d6807b9a7da70dae9191b93d4ec6157187515078%5E%21
[2] https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~chromium-team/chromium-browser/chromium-browser.head/view/head:/debian/chromium-browser.install
[3] https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~chromium-team/chromium-browser/chromium-browser.head/view/head:/debian/rules

https://www.freedesktop.org/software/appstream/docs/chap-Quickstart.html#sect-Quickstart-DesktopApps

[Mario Sánchez Prada (mariospr)]

Note that the Fedora package is installing this file into the deprecated path /usr/share/appdata, instead of using the one specified by AppStream since a while ago: /usr/share/metainfo.

I've filed a bug for Fedora in https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1591306, but I'm commenting this explicitly here to prevent confusion, and to be clear on that /usr/share/metainfo should be the right place to install this file into.

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

Thanks for the report Mario.

Note that chromium-browser.head is not the current packaging branch for chromium on ubuntu, but regardless you're right, chromium on ubuntu doesn't ship the upstream appdata file, and it should.

[Mario Sánchez Prada (mariospr)]

Hi Olivier, sorry for the late reply but I'm in the middle of an overseas relocation (UK > Spain) + holidays and I'm a bit off the grid these days...

Thanks for your comment, and sorry for reporting it against the wrong branch. Hopefully this will help having a better chromium package for future releases, though.

Let me know if you need anything else from me and I'll try to help when I get some time with my computer (will be a bit off the grid for a while still, but on September things should get back to normal).