Pros and cons of using Flatpak

[Tom_ZeCat]

We have about a zillion different ways to install things in Kubuntu. For me the Discover repository is always the first source, as it's trustworthy, though it doesn't always have the latest software versions. If something isn't available, a deb package is usually (not always) an easy way to get an application properly installed. Then there's command line install, including special PPAs. As a last resort, I've sometimes done manual installs. Sometimes that can be a pain in the butt; other times it's easy. My favorite backup utility is FreeFileSync. That used to have a dependable PPA, but that was dismantled some time back. Nowadays, I just download and extract it, then set its main file as executable and it runs.

For the longest time, I resisted using Flatpak because who needed yet ANOTHER package system for installing Linux apps? Turns out, I did. I wanted to upgrade to the very latest version of CherryTree, and the repositories are way behind on it. I found a PPA for it, but it only got me a version slightly newer than the repository one. Then I found a deb file, but for some reason it would not install. A manual install got its executable and a bunch of other files on my computer, but it squawked about needing numerous dependencies. So I could spend hours hunting down and installing those dependencies or I could try another method. It seemed like CherryTree version 0.99.24 was like a fantasy and not something you can actually install. Then I tried Flatpak. I found a Flatpak package of it as well as a site named Flathub with a wealth of info on how to find and install apps via flatpak packages.

With that I was able to install the elusive CherryTree 0.99.24.

It worked well, and there's a wealth of info on Flathub on how to install a number of high-end open source programs, including FreeFileSync. I noticed the application versions there are significantly later than the ones available in the repositories.

Is this too good to be true? Is Flatpak/Flathub a great way to install Linux apps or is there a catch I don't know about?

[claydoh]

Mainly the downside is that flatpaks can be more 'bloated' than native apps + their dependencies. If you install a KDE program thus way, say Kdenblive, you will pull in a KDE runtime flatpak as well, which is unnecessary on a KDE system using native packaging.

Luckily these desktop runtimes are shared with other flatpak apps, so the bloat is not all that terrible, particularly for Gnome flatpaks on a KDE system.

There can be small quirks as flatpaks are containerized/sandboxed, and sometimes they don't follow system themes, and things of that nature.


The main plus is that a project can create an up to date version of its software without needing to make things for each specific distro, or relying on the distro/volunteers to do it.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Mainly the downside is that flatpaks can be more 'bloated' than native apps + their dependencies. If you install a KDE program thus way, say Kdenblive, you will pull in a KDE runtime flatpak as well, which is unnecessary on a KDE system using native packaging.

Luckily these desktop runtimes are shared with other flatpak apps, so the bloat is not all that terrible, particularly for Gnome flatpaks on a KDE system.

There can be small quirks as flatpaks are containerized/sandboxed, and sometimes they don't follow system themes, and things of that nature.

The main plus is that a project can create an up to date version of its software without needing to make things for each specific distro, or relying on the distro/volunteers to do it.

Okay, those are pretty minor down sides, especially since I keep all my work files off the computer anyway in favor of using external drives for them. That way if I ever need to re-install my OS and apps, there's no issue with having to back up all my files. I've got my external drive and then my backup external drive, and this PC's internal drive is only for the OS and all the apps. With it being a 1 TB drive, I have massive extra space anyway.

[GreyGeek]

The BIG problem with snapd and flatpack is that they usually leave a daemon running as a service even if you are not using their store. I view that as snooping, besides wasting my CPU cycles and RAM. TeamViewer leaves teamviewerd setting in the processes so every time I use it I make sure to disable the daemon with systemctl so it doesn't load every time I boot up.

The thing I LOVE about appimages is that all I have to do is save them somewhere and make them executable. When you run them they open up their own sandbox (they do not depend on local libraries) and run inside it. IF you save your products (like your docs if you run LibreOffice's appimage) inside the sandbox the docs go where ever you move the appimage to because they are inside. I have a subdirectory under Downloads called AppImages and I store all the appimges there. Currently I run 15 of them.

[Tom_ZeCat]

The BIG problem with snapd and flatpack is that they usually leave a daemon running as a service even if you are not using their store. I view that as snooping, besides wasting my CPU cycles and RAM. TeamViewer leaves teamviewerd setting in the processes so every time I use it I make sure to disable the daemon with systemctl so it doesn't load every time I boot up.

The thing I LOVE about appimages is that all I have to do is save them somewhere and make them executable. When you run them they open up their own sandbox (they do not depend on local libraries) and run inside it. IF you save your products (like your docs if you run LibreOffice's appimage) inside the sandbox the docs go where ever you move the appimage to because they are inside. I have a subdirectory under Downloads called AppImages and I store all the appimges there. Currently I run 15 of them.

Yeah, I'm loving appimages. Previous versions of my favorite subtitle editor, Jubler, actually had an install wizard similar to a Windows app that got Jubler installed. However, sometimes those setups didn't tell Jubler correctly where my Java was installed and so I would have to do tinkering to tell it. A pain in the butt. This latest version of Jubler, on the other hand, is an appimage. I just put the file in my "manualinstalls" folder and made it executable and it ran perfectly. It figured out where my Java is with no problem.