[SRU] Demote libde265 to Suggests
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| libheif (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
| Noble |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
[ Impact ]
* We shouldn't be including an H.265 decoder in the Ubuntu squashfs.
In Noble, there is a dependency chain in the desktop seed that pulls
this component in:
cups-
-> libgphoto2-6t64 -> libgd3 -> libheif -> libheif-
* By demoting libheif1's Depends on libheif-
Suggests, germinate will no longer pull it into the squashfs seed.
* The practical consequence of this change is that HEIC images
(the default photo format on iOS/macOS devices since iOS 11 and
the default photo format for many recent Android phones) will
not decode on a live session or freshly installed system unless the
user explicitly installs libheif-
unaffected as AV1 decoding (dav1d/aomdec) remains a hard dependency.
* This change was already carried in ubuntu4 for the x265 encoder
(LP: #2061089). This upload extends the same principle to the
libde265 decoder.
[ Test Plan ]
Verify AVIF decoding is unaffected (dav1d/aomdec still a hard dep):
# On a system WITHOUT libheif-
$ apt-get install --no-install-
$ heif-convert test.avif test.png
# Should succeed
Verify HEIC decoding fails gracefully without the plugin:
# On a system WITHOUT libheif-
$ heif-convert iphone-photo.heic out.png
# Should fail with a reasonable error not a crash or silent
corruption.
Verify HEIC decoding still works when the plugin is installed:
$ apt-get install libheif-
$ heif-convert iphone-photo.heic out.png
# Should succeed and produce a correct PNG
Verify no regression for applications using the gdk-pixbuf loader:
# With libheif-
$ gdk-pixbuf-
$ eog iphone-photo.heic # or any GTK image viewer
# Should display correctly
Once new ISOs are available, ensure the problematic packages have not been pulled into the squashfs,
sudo mount -o loop,ro ubuntu-release.iso mnt
sudo mount -o loop,ro mnt/casper/
# Ensure libheif-plugin-x265 and libheif-
dpkg-query --admindir=
[ Where problems could occur ]
* Applications that rely on libheif for HEIC thumbnailing or display
(e.g. Nautilus via heif-thumbnailer or heif-gdk-pixbuf, GNOME
Photos, Shotwell) will silently fail to open or thumbnail HEIC
images on fresh installs. Users coming from iPhones are likely to
notice this. The failure mode should be graceful (error returned to
caller), not a crash, but this is worth confirming.
* If any package in main or the desktop seed has an undocumented
indirect requirement on HEIC decoding being available, that
functionality will silently regress. The dependency chain from
libgphoto2 makes this plausible. software that transfers photos
from iOS cameras via gphoto2 and then previews them could be
affected.
[ Other Info ]
* A similar change was already carried in ubuntu4 for the x265
encoder (LP: #2061089). This upload extends the same principle to
the libde265 decoder.
* Questing also seeds the decoder by default. A similar change has
already been released for Resolute
(https:/
* The libde265 plugin itself is still built and still shipped in the
archive in the libheif-
installation becomes optional.
* Users who need HEIC support can restore it with:
sudo apt-get install libheif-
Related branches
- Ubuntu Sponsors: Pending requested
- git-ubuntu import: Pending requested
-
Diff: 32 lines (+8/-2)2 files modifieddebian/changelog (+6/-0)
debian/control (+2/-2)
| tags: | added: noble |
| description: | updated |
| description: | updated |
| description: | updated |

It landed in resolute, closing the corresponding task.