Comment 28 for bug 1883174

OK, made more progress.

First, I was finally able to reproduce the issue in the new account. For my initial test I just created 4 or 5 very small text files. On my regular desktop I have a much larger text file that is 39kb with 1100+ lines. The size of the file is what makes it break, which points to exactly what Andre mentions above. If you create a large text file on your desktop you should be able to see the issue yourself.

I then proceeded with our test. I installed vanilla gnome, uninstalled the /usr version of desktop icons, and then rebooted. At login I selected a Gnome session for the new account. I then went through the meson/ninja procedure to install your patch version. The good news is it did install now and it does keep the icons from disappearing. The only sub-optimal part is that the icons don't stay in place and move around on the desktop each time you hit save. Still a big improvement, but ideally the icons wouldn't move around.

Just a side note, while testing to break the other account I did also try an .ods file. It never did disappear, but has the same issue with not staying in the exact place where I positioned (i.e. on each save action it would jump around)...