GNOME 3.38 Legacy Session for Debian 13

This project installs a GNOME Shell 3.38 / Mutter 3.38 X11 legacy session on Debian 13.

It installs GNOME Shell and Mutter into /usr/local and adds a separate GDM session:

• GNOME 3.38 Legacy
• GNOME 3.38 Direct Debug

The regular Debian GNOME session remains installed as fallback.

Repositories

• Mutter: https://forgejo.sbmc.dev/DL2x/gnome-mutter
• GNOME Shell: https://forgejo.sbmc.dev/DL2x/gnome-shell

Install

On a fresh Debian 13 GNOME system:

git clone https://forgejo.sbmc.dev/DL2x/gnome338-x11-debian13.git
cd gnome338-x11-debian13
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh
sudo systemctl restart gdm3

Then choose GNOME 3.38 Legacy in the GDM session menu.

Status

Working:

• X11 session
• Overview
• Dash
• App grid
• Top bar menu
• Alt+Tab
• Logout
• Shutdown
• Restart
• Suspend

Known warnings:

• Mutter/libinput acceleration profile warnings
• Some GLib/GObject warnings from old Shell/Clutter code on modern GLib/GJS
• Telepathy unavailable
• Parental controls warnings during startup

Goals

The goal is to recreate the GNOME 3.38 shell experience on Debian 13 while keeping the base system modern.

Important UI goals:

• old dash behavior
• no double-Super app grid behavior
• vertical workspaces
• non-transparent top bar in overview
• old aggregate menu style
• fewer rounded corners