Electron Forge template-webpack produces GTK 2/3/4 errors on Debian 12 #3930
Description
Pre-flight checklist
- I have read the contribution documentation for this project.
- I agree to follow the code of conduct that this project uses.
- I have searched the issue tracker for a bug that matches the one I want to file, without success.
Forge version
7.8.0
Electron version
v36.1.0
Operating system
Debian 12 (Linux 6.1.0-33-amd64)
Last known working Forge version
Unknown
Expected behavior
When creating a new Electron app using Electron Forge's template-webpack using the command:
npx create-electron-app@latest my-new-app --template=webpack
...from it's documentation page (https://www.electronforge.io/templates/webpack-template), and then run it with npm start, it ought to work. (From the code, it appears it would open a Hello World window...)
Actual behavior
On my Debian 12 system, it generates the following error:
(process:2276788): Gtk-ERROR **: 12:09:23.638: GTK 2/3 symbols detected. Using GTK 2/3 and GTK 4 in the same process is not supported
...and exits immediately.
Steps to reproduce
Go into a Debian 12 installation and run:
npx create-electron-app@latest my-new-app --template=webpack
cd my-new-app
npm start
Additional information
Here is the full output of the test I ran just before filing this issue:
steveb@steveb-linux2:~/Development/Electron/TestApps$ npx create-electron-app@latest my-new-app --template=webpack
✔ Resolving package manager: npm
✔ Resolving template: webpack
› Using @electron-forge/template-webpack (local module)
✔ Initializing directory
✔ Initializing git repository
✔ Preparing template
✔ Initializing template
✔ Installing template dependencies
steveb@steveb-linux2:~/Development/Electron/TestApps$ cd my-new-app
steveb@steveb-linux2:~/Development/Electron/TestApps/my-new-app$ npm start
> my-new-app@1.0.0 start
> electron-forge start
✔ Checking your system
✔ Locating application
✔ Loading configuration
✔ Preparing native dependencies [0.1s]
✔ Running generateAssets hook
✔ Running preStart hook
(process:2276788): Gtk-ERROR **: 12:09:23.638: GTK 2/3 symbols detected. Using GTK 2/3 and GTK 4 in the same process is not supported
steveb@steveb-linux2:~/Development/Electron/TestApps/my-new-app$
For context, I ran into this problem as I was attempting to take a rather complex Electron application I'd been working on for some months and convert it so I could use Electron Forge with Webpack to package the files for internal distribution testing on Linux and Windows. (I was using the ffmpeg-static-electron-forge package and couldn't figure out how to package it to make it work...) After doing a deep dive through the Forge docs, the Webpack docs, and restructuring the app to configure Webpack and package without errors, I ran into this bug on trying to execute the program. My program has some logging in main.js which was displayed, so it loaded and launched fine -- it looks like the problem occurs when you first attempt to open the main window.
For reference, I'm using Node 23.8.0 and npm 10.9.2.