Zoom Debian Linux package requires ibus even on KDE and XFCE (Kubuntu and Xubuntu)

[rxtx]

The Zoom Debian Linux package is requiring ibus. But ibus is part of GNOME desktop.

So installing zoom_amd64.deb under KDE Plasma breaks keyboard support due to ibus and related dependencies which do not work under KDE.

Thus hereby a request to please remove ibus from required dependencies in zoom_amd64.deb.

$ cat ./zoom/DEBIAN/control 
Package: zoom
Version: 5.10.7.3311
License: see https://www.zoom.us/
Vendor: Zoom Video Communications, Inc.
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: Zoom Linux Team <https://support.zoom.us>
Installed-Size: 468772
Depends: libxcb-keysyms1, libglib2.0-0, libxcb-shape0, libxcb-shm0, libxcb-xfixes0, libxcb-randr0,
 libxcb-image0, libfontconfig1, libgl1-mesa-glx, libegl1-mesa, libxi6, libsm6, libxrender1, libpulse0,
 libxcomposite1, libxslt1.1, libsqlite3-0, libxcb-xtest0, libdbus-1-3, libxtst6, ibus, libxcb-xinerama0,
 libxkbcommon-x11-0, desktop-file-utils, libfreetype6 (>= 2.6)
. . .

[football]

Yep, I am doing a new install of Zoom and suddenly get dependencies on ibus, libegl1-mesa, libxcb, python3-ibus, ibus-gtk and a few others. I am  using a few month old Linux distro so there should be NO reason Zoom won't install. I don't need ibus, it will ruin my setup. This is just crazy. Bye bye Zoom, hello jitsi, and it's free too.

When a multi-billion dollar goliath like Zoom hires sub-par developers to package their software, arguably the most important job in a software firm - they deserve to fail! I read the Support forums on this same topic and the absolute failure of support staff to understand the weight of this problem was unbelievable. The Debian Maintainers of ibus made posts to try and help out, but Zoom staff ignored them. I consider this a massive failure from Zoom and a smack in the face for Linux users everywhere. See ya later Zoom!

[rxtx]

As a temporary workaround, you can create a dummy ibus package with equivs. It worked for me.

[merecat]

I second that. My system uses FCITX5 for input. There is absolutely no reason why iBus should even exist on my system. Zoom should just trust that my OS has whatever it needs in place to provide keyboard input. Period. The dependency is an unjustified nuisance.

[Craig100]

They've done it again!  After a couple of years safely installing the latest version. The current latest version has IBus back in again and my keyboard switcher, which I use alot, is broken and replaced with that crappy IBus interface that doesn't let you switch and looks awful. 

PLEASE TAKE IBUS OUT OF THE LINUX MINT 64 PACKAGE ASAP
I'm sick of uninstalling Zoom and Ibus (because it hangs around afterwards!) every time I have a Zoom call. This can be a few times a day.  I'm a paying customer and really pee'd off about this.

[NoThoughts]

My method is to repackage the zoom package whenever an update comes by using hashman's Repack Zoom .debs to remove the `ibus` dependency on their website. Should take 5 minutes to repackage.

[NoThoughts]

My method is to use Hashman's Repack Zoom .debs to remove the `ibus` dependency everytime I update:

scratch=$(mktemp -d)

# Extract package contents
dpkg -x zoom_amd64.deb $scratch

# Extract package control information
dpkg -e zoom_amd64.deb $scratch/DEBIAN

# Remove the ibus dependency
sed -i -E 's/(ibus, |, ibus)//'

 $scratch/DEBIAN/control

# Rebuild the .deb
dpkg -b $scratch patched_zoom_amd64.deb 

Then install the patched .deb with

dpkg -i patched_zoom_amd64.deb

[NoThoughts]

Since they dont want to fix this for many years now, my current method is to use Hashman's Repack Zoom .debs to remove the `ibus` dependency:

scratch=$(mktemp -d)
# Extract package contents
dpkg -x zoom_amd64.deb $scratch
# Extract package control information
dpkg -e zoom_amd64.deb $scratch/DEBIAN
# Remove the ibus dependency
sed -i -E 's/(ibus, |, ibus)//' $scratch/DEBIAN/control
# Rebuild the .deb
dpkg -b $scratch patched_zoom_amd64.deb

Then install the patched .deb with

dpkg -i patched_zoom_amd64.deb

[NoThoughts]

Since they dont want to fix this for many years now, my current method is to use Hashman's Repack Zoom .debs to remove the `ibus` dependency on their website. I would link it, or even type the codes, but even this website is janky and would not allow me so please look it up

[teth]

May 2025 and still zoom deb packages include iBus dependancy which causes serious troubles especially with dual language systems. Please fix it!!!!

PS In the meantime, this script removes iBus from deb file, so you need to run it before installing the deb. Unfortunatelly you have to repeat the process with each new zoom update (new deb file).

#!/bin/bash

# Create a temporary directory to extract the .deb package.
scratch=$(mktemp -d)

# Extract the contents of the zoom_amd64.deb package into the temporary directory.
dpkg -x zoom_amd64.deb "$scratch"

# Ensure the temporary directory is removed on script exit
trap 'rm -rf "$scratch"' EXIT

# Extract the control information (DEBIAN directory) from the .deb package.
dpkg -e zoom_amd64.deb "$scratch/DEBIAN"

# Remove the 'ibus' dependency from the control file using sed.
sed -i -E 's/(ibus, |, ibus)//' "$scratch/DEBIAN/control"

# Rebuild the .deb package from the modified extracted files.
dpkg -b "$scratch" patched_zoom_amd64.deb

# The patched_zoom_amd64.deb file now exists without the ibus dependency.

[merecat]

Hi all,

I'd like to offer the community a simpler, more elegant workaround than re-packaging the .deb files each time they are downloaded. The following describes how to generate a dummy package to "provide" ibus for the sake of dependency while installing nothing at all.

You will need the "equivs" package (apt-get install equivs).

Save the following code someplace sensible, like /usr/local/src/ibus-dummy/ibus-dummy.equivs:

Package: ibus-dummy
Version: 99:99
Provides: ibus
Maintainer: Myself <root@localhost>
Architecture: all
Description: IBus dummy package
This is a dummy package which provides "ibus" but installs nothing at all. You
can use it to fix Zoom's dependency issue to prevent breakage of multilingual
systems when they try to install Zoom.

Install this once and forget about it, but keep the source .equivs file in
case, for example, Zoom changes to require a specific version of IBus.

Next, use that to generate the dummy package:

(cd /tmp && equivs-build /usr/local/src/ibus-dummy/ibus-dummy.equivs)

Then install the generated package:

sudo dpkg --install /tmp/ibus-dummy_99_all.deb

The dependency issue with Zoom is now more or less permanently solved. Keep downloading and installing updates as they happen as you normally would. Keep the .equivs file around in case you accidentally uninstall the dummy package or in case you need to install Zoom on another system.

[merecat]

Note: ibus breaks keyboard input on anything that is already using another input method editor, such as FCITX, FCITX5, SCIM, etc.