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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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Anyone else starting to favor Flatpak over native packages? (lemmy.one)

submitted 1 year ago by DidacticDumbass@lemmy.one to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I am currently using Linux Mint (after a long stint of using MX Linux) after learning it handles Nvidia graphics cards flawlessly, which I am grateful for. Whatever grief I have given Ubuntu in the past, I take it back because when they make something work, it is solid.

Anyways, like most distros these days, Flatpaks show up alongside native packages in the package manager / app store. I used to have a bias towards getting the natively packed version, but these days, I am choosing Flatpaks, precisely because I know they will be the latest version.

This includes Blender, Cura, Prusaslicer, and just now QBittorrent. I know this is probably dumb, but I choose the version based on which has the nicer icon.

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[–] sgtnasty@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For me the perfect example is GNOME Builder (I use KDE Plasma) but this package has it all. No, you dont need to download any dependencies, the sandbox handles it all!

[–] deong@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's not all that different than a traditional package manager. You're downloading the dependencies either way. With Flatpak, they're bundled in. With a traditional package manager, it just fetches all the dependencies and shows you that they're being installed one-by-one. Either way, it's one command to install.

[–] low_bass2@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm far from an expert. But I think an advantage of Flatpak is in the case of different programs needing different versions of the same dependency. Flatpak keeps them sandboxed from eachother. And from your system. So if for example a program depends on Python 2, but your distro depends on python 3, you could install the Flatpak and not worry about it. Atleast I think that's how it works...

Edit: I misread your comment. Lol I see what you're saying now. My bad

[–] deong@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

You're correct that Flatpak solves that problem, and there's some value there. But you can also solve the problem by just having two versions of Python or two version of libjpeg or whatever installed, and then you as the user/admin manages ensuring that each program uses its correct dependency. That's certainly more difficult, but I've just not found it to be problem that is both frequent enough and difficult enough to solve that I would personally value the tradeoff in overall complexity of adding Flatpak to the way I manage and use my systems.

[–] DidacticDumbass@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

Fun use case! It feels like hell experimenting with different DEs because the installs mess with each other. If only they were isolated somehow...