2025-11-03 11:57:27
so
very
frustrating
#Gnome #Evolution how is this even possible? Fresh #Debian13 install, launched, added my google workspace, read and answered email, browsed calendar, really nice, but the VERY NEXT MORNING suddenly tossed into OAuth2-is-missing, step through the 'wizard' and it always ends with the same heartache, are you trying sign in? and then…
Mail authentication (shown) gives a URL to a page, Make sure you trust Gnome (4 perms already granted, Google console agrees) but in Firefox that URL asks to confirm and then reverts to google.com. In the minibrowser, it gets to "Requesting access token, please wait"
And wait you do.
How is this even POSSIBLE? What could cause it to (a) drop an OAuth2 overnight that had been in use for a day and (b) subsequently give a URL that does not result in an access token. I removed permissions on the Google side, but same results. Reinstalled Evolution, no change
yes, I checked gitlab.gnome.org
I could not find that many solutions to my #GNOME issues listed at the bottom on https://karl-voit.at/Gnome-Setup/ and so I tested Debian 13 Live
Found an obscure hint that perhaps instead of authenticating through #Evolution I should instead authenticate through the #Gnome settings for attached accounts, so I tried that approach, this time it asks for far more permissions (8 in all) but, you guessed it, a classic Sam Beckett "No Answer" and the terse response, "timed out".
So the app doesn't matter. The browser doesn't matter. The account or any legacy cruft doesn't matter.
Does this leave as the only explanation that perhaps Google no longer provides OAuth2 tokens? Surely that would be all over the news if true, but I'm running out of local culprits. Also Emacs inability to authenticate Mastodon suggests its neither google nor Debian per se? Maybe I should spend my time more productively slamming a car door on my fingers?
I have a dread feeling wiping the laptop and carefully reinstalling from scratch will not work.
#GNOME dropps the 32-bit #Flatpak Runtime compatibility extension:
https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2025/…
Ok, Gnome removed the X11 backend and only supports Wayland. I'd be fine with that when they finally had separated the window manager from the full session. It's just annoying¹ to get logged out because the window manager crashes again – and that happens way to often!
__
¹to use a mild term
#gnome
and it was going so well too: spent yesterday enjoying a not-gmail #Evolution access to my workspace, but now, as of this morning, with no changes other than sleep, Evolution is locked out:
“Failed to authenticate: Cannot create an item in a locked collection”.
ok #Debian13 #gnome wtf is a "locked collection" and by who's authority was it created with a lock on my own machine?
More to the point: will my Evolution email always be this fragile? ie is it pointless to even try?
More to the gripe: do software developers EVER post messages using terms that are actually DEFINED somewhere?
New #blog post: Setting up #Gnome (Linux) for #seniors. I've been looking into how to best set up an extremely simplified and limited #Linux for #elderly people. There don't seem to be many pre-existing efforts for this, so I figured I'd write a short blog about it.
#Mastodon as a #comment system for all my #blog posts. A reaction to this Mastodon post will show up as a comment.
#opensource #software #firefox #geary #abiword #nautilus #extensions #plugins