this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2021
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Linux

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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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The Linux world has been trying to invent a cross-platform packaging format for years, but leading contenders – the older, vendor-neutral older, AppImage format as well as Ubuntu's Snap and Fedora's Flatpak – all have serious issues.

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[–] Whom@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Sure, for things that are packaged in your distro's repositories the best option is to use your package manager. As it is, that requires a ton of effort on their part and will never include every piece of software available for Linux. Cross-distribution solutions are necessary so an application developer can simply release a version for Linux and leave it at that, rather than releasing a .deb and maybe a .rpm and leaving everyone else to either build it themselves or hope someone decides to package and maintain it for their distro.

I don't mean this as an insult, but I think you missed what they're talking about entirely. This isn't saying apt or whatever is too hard for the user to use. It's comparing the different solutions that are out there to make up for the gaps in that model.