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Desktop: the Linux installers ask for GStreamer, which the audio needs #2

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Merged
mcinnisdev merged 1 commit into from
Sep 14, 2026
Merged

Desktop: the Linux installers ask for GStreamer, which the audio needs #2

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17 changes: 16 additions & 1 deletion docs/DESKTOP.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -41,11 +41,26 @@ for installers under `src-tauri/target/release/bundle/`.

| | Windows (WebView2) | macOS (WebKit) | Linux (WebKitGTK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing, sequencing, disk | yes | yes | yes |
| Playing, sequencing, disk | yes | yes | yes, with the GStreamer plugins below |
| Sampling from the microphone | yes, with a permission prompt | yes; `Info.plist` carries the usage text | yes, where PipeWire or PulseAudio is present |
| Web MIDI | yes | no: WebKit has no Web MIDI | no |
| `.CHOPDECK` files open the app | registered by the installer | registered | registered by the `.deb` |

**Linux needs GStreamer, and fails silently without it.** WebKitGTK has no audio stack of its own:
Web Audio and `decodeAudioData` both run through GStreamer, so a machine missing the output elements
runs the machine perfectly and plays nothing — no error, no warning, just silence. The element
WebKitGTK reaches for is `autoaudiosink`, which lives in the "good" plugin set, and MP3 and M4A
decoding wants `gst-libav` on top. The installers declare these (`bundle.linux.deb.depends` and
`.rpm.depends`) and the AppImage carries its own copies via `linuxdeploy-plugin-gstreamer`, so this
only bites when running the bare binary from `cargo build`:

```
sudo pacman -S gst-plugins-good gst-libav # Arch
sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-libav # Debian / Ubuntu
```

Check with `gst-inspect-1.0 autoaudiosink`. If that says "No such element", the app will be silent.

The builds are not code-signed yet. macOS will refuse to open the app until you right-click it and
choose Open once; Windows SmartScreen asks for confirmation. Signing (an Apple Developer ID and a
Windows certificate) is the step to take before listing on itch.io or Steam, and it is only secrets
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14 changes: 13 additions & 1 deletion src-tauri/tauri.conf.json
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Expand Up @@ -53,7 +53,19 @@
"minimumSystemVersion": "11.0"
},
"linux": {
"deb": { "depends": [] }
"deb": {
"depends": [
"gstreamer1.0-plugins-base",
"gstreamer1.0-plugins-good",
"gstreamer1.0-pulseaudio"
]
},
"rpm": {
"depends": [
"gstreamer1-plugins-base",
"gstreamer1-plugins-good"
]
}
}
}
}
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