Debian: KeePassXC package loses functions, upgrade necessary for retrofitting
The maintainer of the KeePassXC password manager at Debian has largely gutted the package. An alternative package contains all functions.
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Users of Debian SID have noticed that the password manager KeePassXC is missing numerous functions in the current version. This is not a bug, but the intention of the package maintainer. However, this change was not agreed.
In the KeePassXC bug tracker system, for example, there is a user complaint that the browser integration of KeePassXC no longer works under Ubuntu (testing) in either the Brave or Firefox web browser since version 2.7.7. When I tried to reactivate it in the KeePassXC settings, I noticed that exactly these setting options were missing.
KeePassXC maintainer has privacy concerns
KeePassXC maintainer Julian Klode clearly rejects those KeePassXC users who are calling for a reversion to the previously available functions: "I'm afraid that won't happen. It was a mistake to deliver it with all plug-ins as standard". This will be painful for a year, as users annoyingly do not read the NEWS files that they should read, but there is hardly anything that can be done about this.
In the Debian bug tracker system, Klode writes that he uses the build option to disable network support and thus removes these functions. These were probably used to reload a favicon of a website, says the maintainer. He assumes that most people don't want their password managers to connect somewhere they don't know about. This would improve user privacy. Klode is also met with opposition there, but is unperturbed. At the end, the changelog of the KeePassXC package states that all network and inter-process communication code has been removed.
The development team behind KeePassXC feels compelled to issue a warning on Mastodon: "Debian users - be aware that the maintainer of the KeePassXC package for Debian has unilaterally decided to remove all of its features. You will need to switch to 'keepassxc-full' to retain the capabilities once the change lands outside of SID/Testing".
The version of KeePassXC 2.7.7 released in mid-March upgraded the support of passkeys. The import wizard has also been improved and can now import the new versions of 1Password and Bitwarden databases.
(dmk)