diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 012321d..c63274e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # To build large images, the debos resource defaults are not sufficient. These
 # provide defaults that work for us as universally as we can manage.
 FAKEMACHINE_BACKEND = $(shell [ -c /dev/kvm ] && echo kvm || echo qemu)
-DEBOS_OPTS := --fakemachine-backend $(FAKEMACHINE_BACKEND) --memory 1GiB --scratchsize 4GiB
+DEBOS_OPTS := --fakemachine-backend $(FAKEMACHINE_BACKEND) --memory 1GiB --scratchsize 6GiB
 DEBOS := debos $(DEBOS_OPTS)
 
 # Use http_proxy from the environment, or apt's http_proxy if set, to speed up
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b39941d..41f9ea4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ debos --fakemachine-backend qemu --memory 1GiB --scratchsize 4GiB debos-recipes/
 A few options are provided in the debos recipes; for the root filesystem recipe:
 - `localdebs`: path to a directory with local deb packages to install (NB: debos expects relative pathnames)
 - `xfcedesktop`: install an Xfce desktop environment; default: console only environment
+- `gnomedesktop`: install a Gnome desktop environment; default: console only environment
 
 For the image recipe:
 - `dtb`: override the firmware provided device tree with one from the Linux kernel, e.g. `qcom/qcs6490-rb3gen2.dtb`; default: don't override
diff --git a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-image.yaml b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-image.yaml
index 773e69f..c62ef63 100644
--- a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-image.yaml
+++ b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-image.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {{- $dtb := or .dtb "firmware" }}
-{{- $imagesize := or .imagesize "4.5GiB" }}
+{{- $imagesize := or .imagesize "5.5GiB" }}
 {{- $imagetype := or .imagetype "ufs" }}
 {{- $image := printf "disk-%s.img" $imagetype }}
 
diff --git a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
index 910f34b..161577e 100644
--- a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
+++ b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {{- $xfcedesktop := or .xfcedesktop "false" }}
+{{- $gnomedesktop := or .gnomedesktop "false" }}
 {{- $localdebs := or .localdebs "none" }}
 {{- $aptlocalrepo := or .aptlocalrepo "none" }}
 {{- $kernelpackage := or .kernelpackage "linux-image-arm64" }}
@@ -252,6 +253,40 @@ actions:
       - libcamera-v4l2
 {{- end }}
 
+{{- if eq $gnomedesktop "true" }}
+  - action: apt
+    description: Install Gnome desktop
+    recommends: false
+    packages:
+      - plymouth-label- # we probably don't need a boot splash
+      # from task-gnome-desktop
+      - gnome-core
+      # from task-desktop
+      - desktop-base
+      - xdg-utils
+      - fonts-symbola
+      - avahi-daemon
+      - libnss-mdns
+      # browser
+      - chromium
+      # bluetooth settings
+      - blueman
+      # audio: wireplumber for session integration, pipewire-pulse for chromium
+      - pavucontrol
+      - pipewire-pulse
+      - wireplumber
+      # camera: mostly supported through pipewire, but pull the qcam app
+      # and cam CLI tool from libcamera-tools; also install libcamera
+      # gstreamer plugins for for gstreamer based apps; ideally, cam and
+      # qcam would be packaged separately as to allow pulling the CLI
+      # version outside of the desktop list. libcamera-v4l2 provides a
+      # LD_PRELOAD library for compatiblity with apps relying on v4l2
+      # (similar to pipewire and pulse situation)
+      - gstreamer1.0-libcamera
+      - libcamera-tools
+      - libcamera-v4l2
+{{- end }}
+
   - action: run
     description: Set default locale
     chroot: true
@@ -274,6 +309,8 @@ actions:
       echo "BUILD_ID={{$buildid}}" >>/etc/buildinfo
 {{- if eq $xfcedesktop "true" }}
       echo "VARIANT_ID=xfce" >>/etc/buildinfo
+{{- else if eq $gnomedesktop "true" }}
+      echo "VARIANT_ID=gnome" >>/etc/buildinfo
 {{- else }}
       echo "VARIANT_ID=console" >>/etc/buildinfo
 {{- end }}