Tracking: GTK 2 removal

[Sigmanificient]

On GTK 4 release blogpost, a statement has been made "that GTK 2 has reached the end of its life". The last release of GTK 2 (2.24.33), has been made 4 years ago. It also clearly says here:

*********************************************************
*                                                       *
*   This is the final GTK 2.x release.                  *
*   There will be no more updates to GTK 2.             *
*   All users are encouraged to update to GTK 3 or 4.   *
*                                                       *
*********************************************************

Moreover, we have refused some GTK2 program to be added from nixpkgs and an effort as already been made to migrate / drop gtk 2 packages:

• treewide: remove some unmaintained gtk2 packages #341960

It is time to officially deprecate and start removing GTK2 from nixpkgs.

• gtk-engine-murrine: drop with all themes #544598
• openjdk: drop gtk2 support #544677
• gnome-icon-theme: drop #544660

As @Aleksanaa said to me on matrix:

Some productivity software still uses them, and these are probably difficult to remove. Others that have not been updated for a long time or have good alternatives can be removed immediately.

Thanks to @ShadowRZ for providing a more comprehensible list, to get this tracking back to live!

Direct dependents

• afterstep unmaintained afterstep: drop #545089
• arena unmaintained arena: drop #550546
• avrdudess bjornfor
• bellepoule tgi74 bellepoule: gtk2 -> gtk3 #544916
• bombono symphorien bombono: remove #547703
• buzztrax bendlas buzztrax: switch from gtk2 to gtk3 #545535
• caribou unmaintained caribou: drop gtk2 module #545269
• ckan Baughn nullcubee ckan: remove gtk2 #545661
• crossfire-client unmaintained crossfire-client: drop #547280
• ddccontrol pakhfn doronbehar ddccontrol: 1.0.3 -> 3.2.0 #544891
• ddrescueview unmaintained ddrescueview: gtk2 -> gtk3 #552355
• eddie ryand56 eddie: remove dependency on gtk2 #545032
• epkowa symphorien dominikh (BTW, Why pname = iscan?) Draft: epkowa: remove dependency on gtk2 #547709
• factor-lang, factor-lang-0_100, factor-lang-0_101, factor-lang-0_99, factorPackages-0_100.factor-lang, factorPackages-0_100.factor-minimal-gui, factorPackages-0_101.factor-lang, factorPackages-0_101.factor-minimal-gui, factorPackages-0_99.factor-lang, factorPackages-0_99.factor-minimal-gui, factorPackages.factor-lang, factorPackages.factor-minimal-gui spacefrogg
• faust2alsa magnetophon pmahoney faust2alsa: drop #550557
• faust2jack magnetophon pmahoney faust2jack: drop #550558
• foxtrotgps wucke13 gnome2: drop package set #544888
• fsuae c4patino fsuae: drop unused gtk2 #545453
• ganv t4ccer gtkmm2: drop #550819
• geda pjones geda: drop #545933
• gerbv mogorman
• gildas bzizou smaret gildas: build with gtk3, fix homepage #545943
• gimp2, gimp2-with-plugins unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.bimp unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.farbfeld sikmir
• gimp2Plugins.fourier unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.gimplensfun unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.gmic unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.lightning unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.lqrPlugin unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.texturize unmaintained
• gimp2Plugins.waveletSharpen unmaintained
• gkrellm unmaintained gkrellm: drop #547283
• gnome-themes-extra jtojnar bobby285271
• gtkglext unmaintained
• gnome2.gtksourceview unmaintained gnome2: drop package set #544888
• gnome2.libglade unmaintained gnome2: drop package set #544888
• gnome2.libgnomecanvas unmaintained gnome2: drop package set #544888
• gnu-smalltalk sauricat gnu-smalltalk: remove gtk2 support #550547
• gnubg unmaintained gnubg: use gtk3, modernize #556306
• goocanvas_1 unmaintained goocanvas_1,soundtracker: drop #551334
• gosmore 7c6f434c gosmore: drop #545942
• grig MarcFontaine grig: drop #552486
• grip unmaintained grip: drop #547284
• gtk-mac-integration-gtk2 unmaintained
• gtk-gnutella doronbehar gtk-gnutella: disable gui to avoid gtk2 #544900
• gtk_engines unmaintained gtk_engines,paper-gtk-theme: drop #547265
• gtkclipblock UARTman gtkclipblock: remove gtk2 support #551590
• gtkgnutella doronbehar
• gtkimageview gtkimageview: drop #551235
• gtkspell2 unmaintained gtkspell2: drop  #545093
• gwc magnetophon
• gwyddion unmaintained libunique: drop #551715
• haskellPackages.gtk-mac-integration unmaintained
• hdhomerun-config-gui LouisDK1
• hexchat romildo hexchat: drop #546496
• hime yanganto
• hterm zebreus hterm: drop #552346
• imager smaret
• indicator-application-gtk2 msteen {libappindicator,libdbusmenu,libindicator}-gtk2: drop #551259
• industrializer magnetophon
• ir-lv2 magnetophon
• jitsi novmar ryantm Lassulus yayayayaka jitsi: drop #545120
• keepass obadz keepass: 2.60 -> 2.61.1; remove gtk2 #546595
• keybinder bjornfor
• lazarus, lazarus-qt5, lazarus-qt6 7c6f434c lazarus: 4.4 -> 4.8; gtk2 -> gtk3 #549378
• libappindicator-gtk2 msteen {libappindicator,libdbusmenu,libindicator}-gtk2: drop #551259
• libcanberra-gtk2 RossComputerGuy libcanberra-gtk2: drop #551245
• libdbusmenu-gtk2 msteen {libappindicator,libdbusmenu,libindicator}-gtk2: drop #551259
• libfm, libfm-extra unmaintained libfm{,-extra}: drop gtk 2 support #549736
• libgaminggear unmaintained
• libindicator-gtk2 msteen {libappindicator,libdbusmenu,libindicator}-gtk2: drop #551259
• libsForQt5.qtstyleplugins unmaintained libsForQt5.qtstyleplugins: drop gtk2 style #545068
• libunique unmaintained libunique: drop #551715
• libwnck2 JohnAZoidberg libwnck2: drop #551336
• lxappearance-gtk2 romildo various: remove gtk2 support where it is off by default #544746
• lxrandr rawkode lxrandr: force-enable gtk3 #551717
• lxsession unmaintained lxsession: use gtk3 #551718
• meters-lv2 unmaintained meters-lv2: 0.9.20 -> 0.9.28, drop gtk2 dependency #549970
• midisheetmusic mdarocha midisheetmusic: drop #557827
• mjpegtoolsFull unmaintained mjpegtools: disable building gtk2 programs #545129
• mricron adrlau mricron: drop #551720
• nabi wavewave
• networkminer emilytrau
• nip2 KoviRobi
• np2kai OPNA2608
• nufraw, nufraw-thumbnailer asbachb nufraw{,-thumbnailer}: drop #548855
• open-music-kontrollers.synthpod magnetophon
• openbox-menu romildo openbox-menu: drop #545923
• openctm nim65s openctm: remove the gtk2 viewer on linux #544938
• openjfx17 unmaintained openjfx: remove gtk2 support from openjfx17, cleanup #545111
• openjfx21, openjfx25 unmaintained openjfx: remove gtk2 support from openjfx17, cleanup #545111
• osdlyrics PedroHLC
• palemoon-bin, palemoon-gtk2-bin OPNA2608 palemoon: init at 34.3.1 #535052
• pcb mogorman pcb: drop #545922
• pdf2svg wavewave pdf2svg: remove unused gtk2 dependency #545056
• pidgin unmaintained
• pinentry-gtk2 fpletz pinentry-gtk2: drop #551957
• planetary_annihilation unmaintained gnome2: drop package set #544888
• python3Packages.opencv4Full (OpenCV 4 with enableGtk2 = true) basvandijk e589763
• qt6gtk2 (qt6Packages.qt6gtk2, kdePackages.qt6gtk2) Misterio77
• rep-gtk unmaintained sawfish,rep-gtk: drop #548841
• rox-filer proteansec
• rscw earldouglas
• saleae-logic bjornfor
• sane-frontends unmaintained
• sawfish unmaintained sawfish,rep-gtk: drop #548841
• sbclPackages.cl-cairo2-xlib 7c6f434c Uthar ghraban lukego nagy
• sbclPackages.cl-gtk2-gdk 7c6f434c Uthar ghraban lukego nagy
• seamonkey petalmaya seamonkey: drop gtk2 dependency #544860
• smuxi meebey
• snapdragon-profiler unmaintained snapdragon-profiler: drop #547272
• soundtracker fgaz goocanvas_1,soundtracker: drop #551334
• ssh-askpass-fullscreen unmaintained ssh-askpass-fullscreen: drop #548859
• subtitleedit unmaintained subtitleedit: drop #557868
• tilem siraben tilem: switch to GTK 3 fork #522842
• timemachine nico202 timemachine: drop #552351
• tomboy-ng pluiedev tomboy-ng: build Qt 6 instead of GTK 2 version #545853
• transgui RamKromberg
• trayer pSub
• uim oxij
• ultimate-doom-builder sophronesis ultimate-doom-builder: drop gtk2, link libxfixes directly #545543
• verbiste unmaintained verbiste: don't build gtk2 app #547276
• verifast thoughtpolice gnome2: drop package set #544888
• vesta-viewer UlyssesZh
• waon puckipedia waon: drop #552363
• x11spice rnhmjoj x11spice: switch to gtk3 #544870
• xboard 7c6f434c xboard: 4.9.1 -> 4.9.1-unstable-2026-08-03 #549318
• xlog MarcFontaine
• xnee wegank
• xsane unmaintained
• xwinmosaic 7c6f434c xwinmosaic: drop #549310
• zandronum Lassulus zandronum: build without gtk2 support #545919
• zulu8, zulu11 FliegendeWurst Infinidoge gchayleaf tomodachi94 msgilligan

Tests:

• tests.pkg-config.defaultPkgConfigPackages."gdk-2.0" tests.pkg-config: remove all tests that depend on gtk2 libraries #556247
• tests.pkg-config.defaultPkgConfigPackages."gdk-x11-2.0" tests.pkg-config: remove all tests that depend on gtk2 libraries #556247
• tests.pkg-config.defaultPkgConfigPackages."gtk+-2.0" tests.pkg-config: remove all tests that depend on gtk2 libraries #556247
• tests.pkg-config.defaultPkgConfigPackages."gtk+-x11-2.0" tests.pkg-config: remove all tests that depend on gtk2 libraries #556247

Indirect dependents

• hey-mail (via libappindicator-gtk2) peret hey-mail: Remove dependency on GTK2 #550798
• linux-enable-ir-emitter (via python3Packages.opencv4Full) fufexan
• pidginPackages.pidgin-indicator (via libappindicator-gtk2) colonelpanic8

gnome-themes-extra

• whitesur-gtk-theme romildo
• yaru-remix-theme hoppla20

gtk_engines

• paper-gtk-theme simonvandel romildo gtk_engines,paper-gtk-theme: drop #547265

GTK2 bindings

C#

• gtk-sharp-2_0 unmaintained gtk-sharp-2_0,gio-sharp,gtk-sharp-beans: drop #551309
• gio-sharp unmaintained gtk-sharp-2_0,gio-sharp,gtk-sharp-beans: drop #551309
• gtk-sharp-beans unmaintained gtk-sharp-2_0,gio-sharp,gtk-sharp-beans: drop #551309
• hyena obadz hyena: drop #546696

C++

• gtkmm2 7c6f434c gtkmm2: drop #550819
• ahoviewer xzfc gtkmm2: drop #550819
• bombono symphorien
• eq10q magnetophon gtkmm2: drop #550819
• ingen t4ccer gtkmm2: drop #550819
• lv2-cpp-tools michalrus gtkmm2: drop #550819
• lvtk Bot-wxt1221 gtkmm2: drop #550819
• nitrogen auntieNeo gtkmm2: drop #550819
• patchage nico202 gtkmm2: drop #550819
• pcb2gcode Kritnich gtkmm2: drop #550819
• seq24 unmaintained seq24: drop #549006
• utsushi wucke13 mwilsoncoding gtkmm2: drop #550819
• vocproc michalrus gtkmm2: drop #550819

Haskell

• haskellPackages.gtk unmaintained
• haskellPackages.Chart-gtk unmaintained
• haskellPackages.Chart-tests unmaintained
• haskellPackages.cairo-appbase unmaintained
• haskellPackages.diagrams-gtk unmaintained
• haskellPackages.gtk-jsinput unmaintained
• haskellPackages.gtk-simple-list-view unmaintained
• haskellPackages.gtk-toggle-button-list unmaintained
• haskellPackages.indian-language-font-converter unmaintained
• haskellPackages.libnotify unmaintained
• haskellPackages.nc-indicators unmaintained
• haskellPackages.qr unmaintained
• haskellPackages.yi-frontend-pango unmaintained
• haskellPackages.osdkeys (via haskellPackages.libnotify) unmaintained
• haskellPackages.yi (via haskellPackages.yi-frontend-pango) unmaintained
• yi (via haskellPackages.yi) unmaintained

OCaml

• ocamlPackages.lablgtk roconnor vbgl gnome2: drop package set #544888
• ocamlPackages.camlimages vbgl mt-caret ocamlPackages.camlimages: drop camlimages.lablgtk2 #544866
• ocamlPackages.ocamlgraph_gtk unmaintained
• ocamlPackages.zelus-gtk wegank
• prooftree jwiegley
• proverifWithGui thoughtpolice vbgl

Perl

• perlPackages.Gtk2 perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140
• perlPackages.GooCanvas perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140
• perlPackages.Gtk2AppIndicator perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140
• perlPackages.Gtk2ImageView perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140
• perlPackages.Gtk2TrayIcon perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140
• perlPackages.Gtk2Unique perlPackages.{Gtk2, various}: drop #545140

Other

Was found manually using nix why-depends --derivation in this gist: https://gist.github.com/ShadowRZ/d3732dac7fb065e5a198936d77051add

• android-studio, android-studio-for-platform, android-studio-full, androidStudioForPlatformPackages, androidStudioPackages alapshin RossComputerGuy gnuminit johnrtitor adrian-gierakowski hadilq
  • android-studio{,-for-platform}: use gtk3 for GTK LaF #547403
• dwarf-fortress-packages.dwarf-fortress_0_44_12 a1russell robbinch groconnor numinit shazow
• dwarf-fortress-packages.dwarf-fortress_0_47_05 a1russell robbinch groconnor numinit shazow
• bitscope.chart, bitscope.console, bitscope.display, bitscope.dso, bitscope.logic, bitscope.meter, bitscope.proto, bitscope.server unmaintained
• jgmenu (indirectly via libfm-extra) romildo
• lutris, lutris-free (buildFHSEnv) Steinhagen
• teensyduino antono auntieNeo grobberer bjornfor bergey
• toppler (via gimp2) fgaz toppler: drop #551344
• xunlei-uos linuxwhata

[eclairevoyant]

Once this goes through, the following should be closed:

• gtk2: not reproducible #230277
• srcOnly: could not find a non-empty variable whose name to assign to outputMan with gtk2 derivation #308050

[linsui]

gnome-themes-extra was not included by default in #278941 but without it some programs don't detect dark theme correctly. AFAICS, localsend (flutter) has white title bar. localsend (flutter), JabRef (java) and jami (qt) open file picker in light theme.

[magistau]

Randomly stumbled upon this issue and saw

todo: find a replacement to list the package in a nicer way

I came up with a couple of alternatives:

• grep -r "gtk2" pkgs -l -Z | sort -z | xargs -0 printf '- [ ] %s\n'

  grep's -Z and sort's -z are not in POSIX, though; paths in nixpkgs are nice so it should probably be fine to remove -Z, -z and -0 flags.

• nix run nixpkgs#ripgrep -- "gtk2" pkgs -l0 | sort -z | xargs -0 printf '- [ ] %s\n'

  Note that this depends on the non-POSIX sort's -z too; sort -z can be removed in favor of using --sort=path in ripgrep, but that option makes ripgrep run in single-threaded mode, which is 2x slower on my machine. And, again, -0 and -z could be removed considering nixpkgs paths are nice.

Considering only *.nix files are probably needed, this is what I'd use:

nix run nixpkgs#ripgrep -- "gtk2" pkgs -l -g '*.nix' | sort | xargs printf '- [ ] %s\n'

As a completely different option, probably changing something in gtk2 and then running nixpkgs-review would help, but that's quite resource heavy.

[Sigmanificient]

Thanks for your suggestions, i will try to explore the nizpkgs-review idea, to collect the full list. The goal is to have a one generated without a grep expression to make sure it does not miss anything

[iedame]

• bolt-launcher: GTK2 is an optional dependency if enabling RS3, which is disabled by default.

• runescape (aka RS3): As far as I know, it cannot run without GTK2. However, Jagex plans to drop this client in favor of their new Jagex Launcher (which bolt-launcher is a replacement for). Given that Jagex is not supporting their launcher on Linux, it's likely this package will be dropped at that time, and bolt-launcher will lose its RS3 functionality or also be replaced by a new solution to keep OSRS and RS3 functional.