this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Flatpak often trips over its own feet with their attempt to sandbox apps, they hamstring their own capabilities by not having the necessary file system or device permissions. Attempting to use the Flatpak version of Steam for example, it couldn't see my games library because it basically had no file permissions. Yes, this is the packager's fault and not Flatpak as a whole, but why do so many packagers fuck this up?
Flatpaks also install in /var for some reason rather than like /usr or somewhere that makes sense, and they have commands like "flatpak run com.steam.Steam" or whatever rather than just "steam" so a lot of pre-existing machinery fails if you're using the flatpak versions. Flatpak essentially breaks any case where you pipe data into or out of an app. A recent example I ran into is trying to use MakeMKV as a blu-ray decoder for VLC. A major selling point of Flatpak is it can't do that.
I had a higher opinion of Flatpak when I entirely ran Mint Cinnamon and it was an additional software source. Fedora treats Flatpak as the main source of GUI apps, a lot of them aren't available as .rpms and it's worse.
my same exact opinion and experience as well.
I still think it's a good platform for the "Linux version" of certain apps, like Slack or something. Package it as a Flatpak and you'll reach the vast majority of distros in one shot. But it needs some elbow grease before it's the right tool for managing all apps.