Flatpak – Standalone Apps for Linux

  • Previous discussion of Flatpak, including some technical discussion and useful links:

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11697678

  • I'm not at all sold on this idea of "platform" vs "application" that seems to have become so common. I'd much rather have a Nix-like system, where you still get the isolation benefits (each package specifies an exact dependency hierarchy), while also opportunistically sharing stuff that is identical between packages.

  • Embedded libraries that never get updated. That may expose security vulnerabilities. Different apps including those different versions of libraries. No. That's not progress. That's ridiculous.

  • While I like idea I don't completely understand it. What 'runtime' is actually supposed to be? What if I need two runtimes? I will probably need to bundle one of them with the app. E.g. if I write a C++ Qt application I will use Qt runtime, if I write command line Python application I will use Python runtime, but if I write Qt application in Python I will need to bundle either Python or Qt with my app, correct?

    Also, is there support for applications without any runtime?

  • * Is Flatpak the same as xdg-app? Yes, while xdg-app was a fine name to use during development we wanted something with wider appeal and more sparkle to it than xdg-app could provide. So as part of formally launching Flatpak as ready for use we decided to pick a more accessible and fun name.*

    Interesting - I wonder how it compares with Click packages.

  • Does anyone know how it stack against AppImage? I know some applications(i.e. Krita) is already using AppImage.

  • Does Flatpak do anything that nix doesn't do?

  • This looks like OSX distribution app. I prefer nix ...

  • What does "[dupe]" mean?