Flatpak integration with desktop systems
The Future of Flatpak
© Lead Image © Viktor Gmyria. 123RF.com
Flatpak's development may have been prompted by container development, but its future depends on the desktop.
Alternative systems for distributing software are on the rise. In 2018, everyone was talking about Flatpak and Snap. In addition, AppImage, which does not require any basic installation, offers completely self-sufficient packages.
Flatpak [1], developed by Fedora under the leadership of Alexander Larsson, is compatible with desktop applications. It lets you package software so that the same package works on all distributions. The only requirement is a matching Flatpak runtime environment.
Origins
Flatpak, which reached version 1.0 in mid-2018, is now considered mature enough for production use. The current version is 1.50. The origin of the format dates back to 2007, when Red Hat employee Larsson was experimenting with klik [2], AppImage's predecessor. However, he did not like some of the technical details. In the same year, he released Glick, which was based on FUSE [3], due to the lack of container APIs, which had not yet been invented.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TUXEDO has unveiled a new InfinityBook Pro with an AMD Ryzen AI 300
This new notebook offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Is This the Year of Linux?
Another major organization has decided to kick Windows and Office to the curb, in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.