Still don't know how I'm supposed to add dictionaries to FF on snap. So many little issues like this with snaps.
Flatpak and SystemD Portable services are actually pretty good.
That's the direction I see Linux going. I personally use NixOS because I am sad.
I looked into Nix but it seemed like it locks you into using bash for your shell. Is that the case?
Sorry I was meaning in the context of using nix-shell for isolated reproducible environments. I read that things can go wrong if you try to use a shell other than bash
Tar is not a package manager, it is just a packaging format. AppImage has the same problem.
Flatpak is a bit of a crappy package manager but at least it is one. And, due to its use of container technology, it allows the same packages to run on any Linux kernel (any Linux distro). That is pretty useful.
Of the other package managers, apk 3 is my favourite but the only distro that uses it is Chimera Linux. Pacman is good. dnf / RPM is ok. apt / deb is in last place for me. The recent Ubuntu 25.04 launch snafu illustrates some of the problems with apt. The first Linus Tech Tips Linux challenge really highlighted the dangers of apt.
I only used snap briefly but instantly hated it. Fstab was a mess. It was slow. It was proprietary. I fled before I could form an educated opinion.
it allows the same packages to run on any Linux kernel (any Linux distro). That is pretty useful.
flatpak itself depends on namespaces, so saying that it works on any kernel is quite a stretch.
Can flatpak do this? This is a GIMP3 appimage running on ubuntu 10.04 without any container:
The kernel is so old that even the appimage runtime itself complains of missing functions and has to fallback to a workaround.
UPDATE: flatpak can't work because bubblewrap itself can't:
PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS is only available since kernel 3.5
Just curious, why are you using a 15 year old version of Ubuntu?
Last usable version
I'm not, it's a vm that I use to test.
There is quite a lot of systems still stuck on kernel 2.6 that can't be updated, so it is always nice to make sure what I do can work on such.
Nix is just across the street sipping tea because it understands what it is and is at peace with the chaotic world around it.
Gentoo is too busy compiling to notice what's going on around it
If you want, you can also compile everything with Nix!
Haha, I break snap a lot less than the others, and it took a bit to figure out the differences. Appimages are annoying af. Flatpaks are my favourite when there isn't a good old .deb. I recently broke Flatpak though so it's on my naughty list. Snap still chugging along for some reason, I just wish the permissions weren't so crazy strict (Nextcloud).
Speaking of all this, I realised I've accidentally installed some things twice. Is there a good way to list all the different package managers together to see what is duplicated?
How do you break a flatpak?
I once uninstalled a flatpak and it rendered another installed flatpak unlaunchable. Not even the repair function would fix it. Ended up having to use timeshift to rollback. Not sure if that was the fault of Flatpak or that one specific app but it was pretty frustrating.
Asking the real questions here.
AppImage is the no-nonsense universal package format.
Last time I read something from the main dev I almost ran stright into the woods.
Also idk about how it is the management situation, portals integration, etc…
Absolutely my favorite. Just download and go. Super portable.
The lack of package management sucks though
It would, if there were no other options for package management. Package formats don't have to be either/or. My systems typically end up with mixes of native packages, flatpak, appimages, and you could technically consider Steam a package management system as well.
AppImages have a lot of problems
It's not about the package management method that we use. It's about the friends and enemies we made along the way (while arguing about package management.)
A magnetised needle and a steady hand is a better package format.
What you are thinking of is not a package manager but a compiler.
Not if you just have list of blobs in your head.
Are there enough watermarks on this meme? At least we got reddit covered.
Let the hate of the crowd wash over me, but I don't even like Flatpak, and I've got love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with AppImage as well.
Just give me a system package or a zipped tarball.
In recent years, have had to just get used to needing to build most projects from source.
What's wrong with Snap?
EDIT: I had minimal exposure to Snap, sometimes Snap was my only option to get some software on Linux in a decent version and without getting into dependency hell while trying to compile it (why can't someone make a package manager for C/C++?). I do see the issue with proprietary servers though.
Everything else is FOSS besides the server and snaps can even be installed locally. I wrote a section of an article about most of the complaints. Most of the complaints I hear are just elitistic bullshit that makes new users confused and spreads misinformation.
What's wrong with Snap?
Proprietary servers.
Can you elaborate a little? I imagined this meant something like Visual Studio Code' Marketplace (which doesn't allow non Microsoft products to connect), but I don't see anything about that on Snap's TOS.
To be clear, I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, I'm just trying to understand.
People want a full open stack, and the server is closed. Its less a technical complaint and more a philosophical one.
Not the person you are asking, just trying to add context on why some find that problematic for those who are reading later.
I don't think it's a TOS thing, just a lack of open source server software? To the best of my knowledge, it's just not possible to host my own snap server. At least, I didn't find any solution when I looked. Which seems weird, for an open source operating system.
If flatpak didn't make me put the entirety of KDE onto my system (thats an exaggeration but you know what I mean) I'd gladly crown it king of the package managers.
Flatpak does not install KDE by default. It is only required if you install a KDE app. You can hardly blame it if you do that.
I need nothing but apt or dnf. Miss me with that other junk.
Weird way to spell pacman
As an Arch user for many years, my question is when is Arch going to ditch pacman and upgrade to APK 3?
Hint: :q!
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