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Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

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Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#211

I'm not sure if Ubuntu realizes that the entire Linux ecosystem is moving away from them because of this flatpak vs snap situation. I'm sure their enterprise side is fine, but their consumer side is disappearing rapidly.

I don't think the Linux ecosystem likes Flatpak that much more than Snap. They are both pretty terrible.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#212
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah lost a day this week to bloody snaps

Is there a single user who likes snaps?

While i don't go out of my way to use them, i've never, ever encountered any of the problems stated by others. And I'm not being selective with my devices at all (Asus laptops, hp minipc).

I really wonder how i can have such a different experience to theirs apart from really esoteric parts/apps. Not saying it's not happening.

While i'd prefer just using apt, they let me work without being a pain so i don't really care.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#213
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah lost a day this week to bloody snaps

Is there a single user who likes snaps?

I started using a snap to run Emacs 28 on my Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS system. The snap is maintained by a Canonical employee, and I like it better than any of the other ways I have used to get more bleeding-edge versions of software in the past, such as using a random Personal Package Archive (PPA) or building from source myself.

Would I rather have the deb package be up-to-date? Sure. But when I've used distributions that try to stick closer to the bleeding edge everywhere, I've had bad experiences with stuff breaking. This lets me keep a stable, well-tested distribution for everything except for the one package I want to be newer.

I can't compare to Flatpak or AppImage because I've never used them.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#215
post #112
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And lets not forget an even more prominent example: Upstart by Canonical that RedHat replaced with Systemd. Basically, Canonical will start at a project first, but RedHat specifically will look for ways to not join them, and start their own project instead. Part of that is certainly due to Canonical itself, but I can't help but think a lot of it is RH making a call and then throwing more developers at something.

Upstart’s CLA was a non-starter. Canonical has quite a history of the behavior you're dinging Red Hat for: Mir, Unity, LXD, Juju/Charms, Launchpad, and I'm sure I'm forgetting several. Also it’s Orwellianly named “Harmony” effort to popularize CLAs because Canonical has long sought to control upstream technologies - and consistently failed because they do not play well with others.

Just to add to those wondering, CLA = Contributor License Agreement.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#216
post #166
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if hundreds of distro maintainers don’t do it then millions of users have to do it.

No, users don't do it. The application developers do it in their CI pipelines. Application developers should be the ones building and testing the app, not distro maintainers responsible for a dozen other applications.

Why should a developer of a free and open-source application, provided free of charge and without any guarantees, have any obligations to package and even test their software on random, thirdparty distributions?

If a distro wants to include their application they have every right in the world to do so. So its up to them to do what ever is necessary to enhance their product with the freely available product of the unpaid developer who created it.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I was a happy Ubuntu desktop user for over a decade. Now I’m a happy Arch user.

Same here off Ubuntu and onto centos/fedora rpm dnf world

Glad you have something sorted out.

Just interested: why not Debian? i.e. still deb based distro?

I'm guessing the poster above you wants recent package versions as they went to Arch.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#218
post #27

The Linux desktop stack fragmentation continues.

That is just Ubuntu doing Ubuntu things. Like most of their other endeavors, like Upstart or Unity, they will eventually get bored with snap and adopt the most common tool instead.

Just to be clear, Canonical are often the first ones with a solution to a problem (Unity, Mir, Upstart, Snap, LXD predate alternatives trying to solve the same problems existing in existing software), they just usually use the ensuing "war" for adoption due to varying degrees of bad strategy, Red Hat being more popular, poor technical choices or just bad luck.

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you are really saying is you want all software developers to publish Debian packages (no such thing as "apt" packages) compatible with your particular Debian distribution, even though they might be using a different Debian based distribution, a completely different altogether, maybe even a different architecture, even though that compatibility isn't their primary concern.

The original model is that software developers don't package their software for distributions at all, at best they provide helper scripts that the distribution maintainers can use to do that. That's why distributions are typically either giant volunteer-run organizations like Debian or companies like RedHat or Canonical.

x86_64 ELF (SYSV) is a pretty good lingua franca, why pollute my machine with some crappy pauper?

Re: Ubuntu stops shipping Flatpak by default

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a single user who likes snaps?

me. They provide solutions that work. There have been some teething pains but for the most part nonissues. It's at the point where I'm considering learning how to build snaps for private products I deliver. I think the argument over flat pack versus snaps may expressed in technological terms but in reality, it's just your damn ego. Let it go, it's really not worth arguing over. Use what solves your work problem and t…

> it's just your damn ego.

It's really not. First, those technical problems are real problems that will create user-visible problems, ex. forced updates. Second, it has problems that are already user-facing, ex. startup times.

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