Mastodawn

Nick @ The Linux Experiment

Every time I talk about #Flatpak, #Snap, or any packaging format, I get comments asking what the differences are, which one is the best, why you should use one over the other...

So I decided to revisit a previous video I made 3 years ago, and give a more up to date explanation on the various packaging formats on #Linux: the good old DEBs and RPMs, Flatpaks, Snaps, AppImages, and the AUR.

Should be better than my old video, if only on the image quality / script side :D

https://youtu.be/1lLZ-59xH3Y

Linux Packaging Formats explained: Flatpak vs Snaps vs DEB & RPM vs AppImage vs AUR

YouTube

@thelinuxEXP
#nix package manager when?🧐

#flatpak #snap #linux

Charlie Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP If I run `apt install XYZ`, I expect APT/DPKG to handle the installation, NOT "We're redirecting your request to snap"....

If I wanted to install the snap version of something, I'd have requested the snap version.

All I'm saying.

runarcn Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 @thelinuxEXP And I'm definitely not expecting 'apt install snap && snap install [package]' after I've *manually purged* snap from my system

Charlie Mar 10, 2023

@runarcn @thelinuxEXP

*Microsoft has entered the chat*

> We're sorry, xbox games are critical for your operating system's function and we cannot remove that package.

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 @runarcn Haha yeah I can see that future happening

runarcn Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 @thelinuxEXP throwback to microsoft getting in legal trouble for bundling a browser with the operative system in the 90s, now you can't remove MS Edge

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 Agreed. This is an egregious thing Ubuntu does, and it should NOT happen.

Charlie Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP In other news, definitely unrelated to Canonical doing silly things with their OS, my upgrade from Ubuntu 22.04 to Debian 12 ALPHA 2 thus far has gone VERY smoothly! Gnome 43 is looking more and more polished each release. (Though the default app store interface in vanilla upstream is WOEFULLY lacking in terms of UX.)

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 GNOME Software? It’s basically the exact same as the one Ubuntu uses, but with better performance and more information on app pages?

Charlie Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP For me (could be just due to the alpha release), images don't work and the first launch of 'play' category listed what appeared to be a bunch of broken entries and I couldn't for the life of me find how to search for anything, (ie: steam).

After taking a second look, it appears that clicking on a category can just be slow and their choice of "please wait, loading" conveys more of a "something broke" feeling than "please wait" and Search is just hiding in that silly app bar.

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 10, 2023

@cdp1337 Ah yeah seems like alpha / beta issues, the current version in GNOME 43 doesn’t have these issues :)

Jorge Soares Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP Package managers are bloat just compile software from source

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 10, 2023

@asterisco Hahaha no way. I value my time 😂

cslinuxboy Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP Again, great content. I'm still a fan of the #AUR but am gradually migrating towards #Flatpak when available.

#Linux #PackageManagers

Tommi 🤯Mar 11, 2023

@cslinuxboy @thelinuxEXP

#FlatpakEverywhere!

Curtis McHale Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP Thanks. I'm getting a new machine next week that will get Fedora so this is highly pertinent to me

Tonch Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP As a relative newcomer to Linux, I go for flatpaks first, and if that's not available then I weigh my options from there. I've been trying to avoid snaps where I can, since it feels like not only are they slow to launch and cluttered, but some programs were versions behind in updates.

Daniele Pantaleo 🦥

→ opens link in background so not to start the video immediately

→ change to video tab when done with other stuff

→ "HEY EVERYONE!!"

→ google: how to use AED on self

GreenMan36 Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP simple, snaps suck and flat is cool if you use seal

防空識別區ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳᵏᵒˢᵐᵒˢ Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP I use APT and full traditional package management, but Flatpak if necessary. Never snaps. On my server I do Docker everything. Interested in checking out things like Nix.

Mr.Fox Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP just apt

Haijo7 Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP It's true that containerized packages are usually more secure than proprietary .deb or .rpm files downloaded off of regular websites. But a distro's package manager also uses these types of files. You make it sound like containerized packages that aren't supported by the distribution are more secure, even tho it could have an outdated version of a library with a known vulnerability. But this is usually only an issue for unofficial flatpak versions of applications, I recommend only using officially supported flatpaks. Flathub appears to be trying to address this issue by making it clearer if an application is official. A things I would still like to see them do is moving away from github. Publishers need a github account in order to submit packages to flathub.

@thelinuxEXP I hope big companies start looking at Flatpak as an option to distribute their software to Linux users

Amy 🇹🇭Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP I love flatpak! They gave me a way to just install things easily and they are (in my experience) generally stable, It is also grandma-proof

Sar6e 🇦🇺Mar 10, 2023

@thelinuxEXP I don’t really understand how everyone here has this preference. My experience is I feel forced to use multiple sources to get everything I want installed.

It might be an Ubuntu thing but there’s a software app that seems to be just managing the OS itself. Then there’s Ubuntu Software which I’m learning is the Snap Store (?). But then software I want is only available as a flatpak, so go try and make that work. It’s confusing as hell for a newbie!

mrscientific Mar 11, 2023

@thelinuxEXP
I agree with a lot of what was said, but I definitely think the installation method matters. Which is best obviously depends on the software and how it is used, but there is a difference. Last I checked the snap version of chromium and brave had wierd issues, most IDEs don't work well as flatpaks, native packages may have issues specific to the distro and so on. So it's generally a good idea to see the versions that the developer supports and use that.

David Field Mar 11, 2023

@thelinuxEXP I bet you get plenty of "feedback" about which is best too 😃.

Nick @ The Linux Experiment Mar 11, 2023

@davidfield Of course 😂 Even though the conclusion is « there is no best option yet », people will still have their favorites!

David Field Mar 11, 2023

@thelinuxEXP agreed, they are interesting times, but hey, what do I know, I only recently found manjaro which seems to embrace all of these package solutions

Keep up the good work

Patrick Mar 11, 2023

@thelinuxEXP Cool guide. Cheers, Nick. (:

Seb Mar 11, 2023

@thelinuxEXP To be fair to the AUR you have to check for every program everywhere to see if it does what it should do

[asahi95@fedora~]$

@thelinuxEXP I just use whatever package managers/formats I want to use or that I think are useful to my daily use of my laptop

For example, I have Ubuntu on my PC and I use a combination of #Snaps, #Flatpaks, #AppImages, #Debian packages, and even applications that were extracted from tar files! 📦

Denzil Ferreira Mar 12, 2023

@thelinuxEXP when I was on PopOS/ElementaryOS/Ubuntu, a lot of times I ended by breaking the system via PPAs or out of sync .deb... Since Fedora 27, I don't need anything outside Flatpak, RPMFusion repo and Fedora's own repo. Rock solid, updates work flawlessly as I turn off the PC at the end of the day.

Offtopic: does this mean you're feeling better? 😁