Flatpak integration

tomscharbach

WetGeek It's called Sol, and it's under development. Solus policy is no ETAs.

Interesting. I use Flatpak (Edge and Zoom) and haven't read anything that suggests to me that Flatpak applications will be offered in Sol, or that Sol will auto-update installed Flatpak applications. Where did you get your information?

WetGeek

tomscharbach Where did you get your information?

The only place I could possibly have gotten it is right here. It's been a long time, though, and it could have been something being added to the Software Center, not Sol, itself.

tomscharbach

WetGeek The only place I could possibly have gotten it is right here.

Thank you.

To give @kpkeller a bit more information, the two mentions I found were this 2019 blog post ...

... and this 2020 comment from @DataDrake:

If @WetGeek has more recent information (e.g. a current roadmap mentioning the issues) he might be able to point us to that information.

Edit/Update: I posted before @WetGeek edited his comment to add this:

WetGeek It's been a long time, though, and it could have been something being added to the Software Center, not Sol, itself.

Sorry for any confusion cause by my comment "If @WetGeek has more recent information (e.g. a current roadmap mentioning the issues) he might be able to point us to that information."

brent

@WetGeek tomscharbach I do know devs have mentioned utilizing/integrating snap and flatpaks more (a la Ubuntu) for many packages alongside Sol...but was mentioned by someone conversationally and not official. in other words a more critical role than they play now, perhaps.
edit/format

tomscharbach

brent I do know devs have mentioned utilizing/integrating snap and flatpaks more (a la Ubuntu) for many packages alongside Sol...but was mentioned by someone conversationally and not official. in other words a more critical role than they play now, perhaps.

I don't know the current status (my only information is 3-4 years old, as you can see from my earlier comment), but I hope that Flatpak integration comes eventually. It is no big deal to install Flatpak apps using the terminal or update Flatpaks via the flatpak update terminal command, but it would be great if Flatpak apps were included in the Software Center and installed Flatpak apps were updated via the weekly updates (as happens with Ubuntu and Ubuntu flavors). It would be a convenience and allow Solus users to install third-party, proprietary apps like Zoom without gymnastics.

brent

tomscharbach I distinctly remember, in forum, a dev saying flatpak/snap playing a role in upcoming software center was only at the "discussion" stage, and, like your info, probably years old and it's pure speculation now. May have even been a Strobl-era discussion but I stand by my recollection. The key would be, I agree, autoupdating this stuff via SC, as opposed to manually doing it now.

The problem with this sandboxed crap--and I will start a new thread---especially the browsers, and a GIGANTIC pet peeve of mine is they all lose the ability to spellcheck and underline and access system dictionaries. I don't know how to remedy this and it sticks in the craw. Flatpak on Solus only offers mostly-functional browsers...

tomscharbach

brent ... and I will start a new thread ...

I think that would be a good idea.

brent

tomscharbach currently on the trail of solutions and off the trail of bellyaching🙂 in this dictionary matter

mbevks

Not that my opinion matters much, but I like how things are right now. I just do my 'flatpak update' command every so often to keep updated and I use the Flathub commands to install apps that I cannot find in Solus. Keeping them separate means I am never confused which I'm using. I get confused easily, so the distinction is very nice!

MintSpider

mbevks It matters.

brent

mbevks I didnt like the way it was implemented in Ubuntu. Native deb files were made very hard to find and the Snaps took the driver's seat. If it ever gets integrated I would hope the native curated packages don't get buried. But all the same, I'm also happy with my flatpak update command every week. I ger confused easy too!🙂

Staudey

mbevks brent The plan is more like how the current "Third Party Repository" packages work. So either an entirely separate category for non-native apps, or clearly marking them in some other way (and of course native packages would have priority over flatpak/snaps/etc.)

Solarmass

I am already used to Flatpaks as separate apps, I think a separate category for Flatpaks is a good idea with its settings etc.

Often you have to update Flatpaks apps after each big system updates especially when new kernel arrives and also there are some quirks with flatpak if you're on Nvidia..

So today I am using Software Center for native eopkg apps and cli for flatpaks.

olivir

Personally, I use always CLI for each Solus updates : sudo eopkg up && flatpak update