GNOME-MODULE(5)

📦 in nixpkgs unstable

👑 GNOME-MODULE(5) — the x11/gnome port module, explained bestie-style 💅

okay so like, this is the manual page for gnome-module — it's a File Formats Manual thing, and it's literally all about what happens when you set MODULES=x11/gnome in the ports(7) tree. periodt. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

gnome-module — the x11/gnome port module 🦋

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

hiii so this page documents what actually goes down when you set MODULES=x11/gnome inside the ports(7) tree. no cap, it's a whole vibe. 💫

this module has full support for the gnu, simple, meson and cmake CONFIGURE_STYLE. all four, bestie, we're not playing favorites. 🌈

if DIST_TUPLE is set and the gnome template is used, this module will set default values for GNOME_PROJECT, GNOME_VERSION, WRKDIST, and EXTRACT_SUFX. it's giving auto-fill energy. ✨

if both GNOME_PROJECT and GNOME_VERSION are set, this module defines DISTNAME, SITES, adds x11/gnome to CATEGORIES, and EXTRACT_SUFX will default to .tar.xz if it's unset. iconic behavior, honestly. 🫶

unless NO_BUILD=Yes, devel/gettext,-tools is appended to MODGNOME_BUILD_DEPENDS for ports built using meson(1), and textproc/intltool is appended to MODULES for the other ports. 🧚

USE_GMAKE is set to "Yes". yup, always. 💅

when CONFIGURE_STYLE is set to gnu or simple, if none of AUTOCONF_VERSION nor AUTOMAKE_VERSION are defined, then "--disable-maintainer-mode" is appended to CONFIGURE_ARGS. when CONFIGURE_STYLE is set to cmake, these two get appended to CONFIGURE_ARGS:

  • -DENABLE_MAINTAINER_MODE=OFF
  • -DSYSCONF_INSTALL_DIR=${SYSCONFDIR}

MODGNOME_CPPFLAGS and MODGNOME_LDFLAGS can be used to add compiler and linker flags. and these two:

  • CPPFLAGS="-I${LOCALBASE}/include"
  • LDFLAGS="-L${LOCALBASE}/lib"

are always appended to CONFIGURE_ENV — unless MODGNOME_CPPFLAGS or MODGNOME_LDFLAGS is set to "no". so like, don't come for them unless you actually mean it. 😭

certain build/run dependencies and configure arguments and environment can be set by appending desktop-file-utils, docbook, gi-docgen, gobject-introspection, gtk-update-icon-cache, shared-mime-info, vala and/or yelp to MODGNOME_TOOLS. otherwise? they're disabled. not invited to the party. 💀

🛠️ what each MODGNOME_TOOLS option actually does

okay here's the tea on every single one — don't skip, bestie, they all matter 💖

  • desktop-file-utils — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, a dependency on devel/desktop-file-utils is appended to MODGNOME_RUN_DEPENDS, and a link to /usr/bin/true is created under ${WRKDIR}/bin/desktop-file-validate. sneaky but valid. 🎀
  • docbook — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, textproc/docbook-xsl is appended to MODGNOME_BUILD_DEPENDS. this option is used when the generation of the man pages included in the source tarball requires docbook XML/SGML/XSL definitions and stylesheets. so like, docs-heavy port? you need this. 📚
  • gi-docgen — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, textproc/gi-docgen is appended to MODGNOME_BUILD_DEPENDS. this option is used to generate documentation using GI-Docgen. docs slay. ✨
  • gtk-update-icon-cache — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, a dependency on x11/gtk+4,-guic is appended to MODGNOME_RUN_DEPENDS. icons stay fresh, periodt. 🌸
  • shared-mime-info — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, a dependency on misc/shared-mime-info is appended to MODGNOME_RUN_DEPENDS, and a link to /usr/bin/true is created under ${WRKDIR}/bin/update-mime-database. mime types understood, no confusion. 🦋
  • yelp — if MODGNOME_TOOLS includes this, textproc/itstool and x11/gnome/doc-utils are appended to MODGNOME_BUILD_DEPENDS. furthermore, x11/gnome/yelp is appended to MODGNOME_RUN_DEPENDS if MODGNOME_TOOLS also contains "desktop-file-utils". this option is to be used when any files are installed into share/gnome/help/ or page files are installed into share/help/. help viewer vibes fr fr. 👑

MODGNOME_BUILD_DEPENDS and MODGNOME_RUN_DEPENDS are appended to the corresponding BUILD_DEPENDS and RUN_DEPENDS. that's the whole point, bestie. 💜

🎀 the PLIST tags you literally cannot forget 🎀

some tools require the following tag in the PLIST. do not forget these, i'm begging 😭

desktop-file-utils

@tag update-desktop-database

gtk-update-icon-cache ($icon-theme is the theme directory)

@tag gtk-update-icon-cache %D/share/icons/$icon-theme

shared-mime-info

@tag update-mime-database

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

and that's the whole page, bestie! 🫶 this cutie was brought to you by Debian, dated August 16, 2025, and it's literally the GNOME-MODULE(5) page from the File Formats Manual. mwah! 💖✨🎀

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