Linux

48316 readers

820 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

nooter692@lemmy.ml

MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml

cypherpunks@lemmy.ml

cyclohexane@lemmy.ml

d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz

Is there a downside to Flatpak? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by 0485919158191@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically title.

I’m wondering if a package manager like flatpak comes with any drawback or negatives. Since it just works on basically any distro. Why isn’t this just the default? It seems very convenient.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] clemdemort@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

IMO yes but it might not be an issue for you, flatpaks work like windows standalone executables where each app brings all their dependencies with them, the advantage is the insane stability that method provides, the downside is the huge size the app will ultimately take, flatpaks are compressed and they don't really bring all their dependencies with them (because they can share runtimes) but the gist of it is a flatpak is usually much heavier than a system (.deb .rpm .PKG) package.

If you are ok with tweaking I recommend nix pkgs as they work on any distro and only take slightly more space than system packages. I have a terrible connection and low disk space, flatpaks aren't something I can use on the long run.

Oh and if you're wondering flatpak >>>> snap > appimages (IMO)

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 0 points 9 months ago

flatpaks work like windows standalone executables where each app brings all their dependencies

No thats appimage. Flatpaks run on shared libraries and even different runtimes containing the same packages share those using deduplication

https://gitlab.com/TheEvilSkeleton/flatpak-dedup-checker

A Flatpak is exactly as heavy as a system app, just that on the system you already have some libraries installed.

Initial download size is bigger, okay. And in general more downloads, I guess the deduplication happens on the disk.

Its like, shared runtimes but also not. Its a bad situation tbh.