release(Linux GUI): define and validate portable packaging and desktop integration

[cervantesh]

Help wanted: Linux GUI distribution qualification

CervTerm currently releases only a Linux headless zip. Before publishing a Linux GUI artifact, we need to choose a maintainable packaging strategy and validate runtime dependencies, desktop integration, sandbox constraints, upgrades, and uninstall.

Scope

Compare a portable tar/zip or AppImage-style artifact with distro packages/Flatpak. We do not need to ship every format. Recommend the smallest set that provides reliable X11/XWayland operation and verifiable updates.

Required checks

• Identify glibc, libstdc++, X11, OpenGL/Mesa, font, and other dynamic dependencies (ldd, readelf, license audit).
• Define supported architectures and minimum distro/glibc baseline.
• Package executable, icon, .desktop file, AppStream metadata where applicable, docs, license notices, and required assets.
• Validate terminal launch and desktop-menu launch with correct working directory/log/config behavior.
• Verify XDG config/data/cache/state paths and read-only/missing home behavior.
• Test native X11 and XWayland; clearly state whether native Wayland exists.
• Test clipboard, fonts, emoji, PTY /dev/pts, child shells, panes, and OpenGL from the installed artifact.
• For Flatpak/Snap/AppImage candidates, document portals, filesystem/device permissions, font visibility, GPU access, sandbox PTY/shell limitations, and host-shell expectations.
• Validate checksums, GitHub provenance, reproducibility inputs, and installed-package smoke.
• Install/upgrade/downgrade/uninstall preserves user config and removes no unrelated files.
• Test downloaded/quarantined-like user flow from a clean account/container/VM.

Deliverables

1. Packaging format recommendation and rejected alternatives.
2. Reproducible scripts/manifests without secrets.
3. Dependency and distro/architecture support policy.
4. CI/release workflow proposal.
5. Smoke evidence on at least Ubuntu/Debian plus one materially different distribution.
6. User documentation for install, verification, troubleshooting, upgrade, and uninstall.

Evidence template

Distro/architecture/session:
Artifact + SHA-256:
Package format/version:
`ldd`/dependency audit:
Install/launch/upgrade/uninstall results:
X11/XWayland and GPU result:
Sandbox/portal permissions where relevant:
Sanitized logs/screenshots:

This issue does not authorize publishing to external stores or changing billing without maintainer approval.

[cervantesh]

Tracked as the Linux GUI packaging/desktop integration workstream in #118.