ROM builders: please make builds that allow Tebuchet to be used as launcher / homescreen

/e/OS Devices UnOfficial Builds
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Summary

It is easy to make builds which allow users to choose to use Trebuchet as launcher / homescreen: it’s a one line change in two source files.

Here are the patches.

  • patch for /e/OS ‘T’ builds: eos-Trebuchet-fix-20.patch
  • patch for /e/OS ‘Q’, ‘R’ and ‘S’ builds eos-Trebuchet-fix.patch
  • a file to be used as usercripts/before.sh to apply the patch when building with Docker: eos-before.sh (This version applies the earlier patch: edit it to apply the newer patch if building /e/OS ‘T’)

Please will people who are making unofficial /e/OS builds consider using the patches, allowing users of their builds to choose Trebuchet as their default launcher / homescreen if they wish.

Background
/e/ made this change in their source code to prevent Trebuchet being used as a the default launcher / homescreen app (even though they use Trebuchet code in their own homescreen / launcher)

I raised an issue in Feburary 2022, asking for this change to be reverted so that Trebuchet could be used. The /e/ development team refused to do so saying

  • We disabled the home screen intent for Trebuchet, as we don’t want users to get offered so many choices from the setup wizard. A side effect of this modification is users cannot choose Trebuchet as Launcher at all.

But they also said

  • We are working on a better approach for BlissLauncher, which will solve the issue. But it will take time

so I hoped that the problem would be fixed in the future, once the new, improved Bliss was available.

Now however, they have closed the issue, not because it is fixed, but because

no, it is not fixed and we will not address it for now. We are working on a new Launcher, but it will not be compatible with Trebuchet. Such as it’s not possible to install BlissLauncher next to Trebuchet on LineageOS.

I strongly believe that this behaviour by /e/ is wrong: using code from another project in your own projects, while preventing users from using the other project is definitely not being a ‘good FOSS citizen’. The licence under which Trebuchet is released does not forbid doing this, but that does not make it right.

Most of the unofficial and custom builds that I made included this patch: if you are making /e/OS builds, please consider doing the same: it’s the right thing to do, both for your users and for the Trebuchet project. Thanks

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I will try it also with repo

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The /e/OS-T 1.16.1 builds I did included the patch-so anyone who installed please try and provide feedback

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