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This blog includes a series of videos and references to help new users or enthusiasts better understand how to use open source and free technology tools. The quick links includes more information for accessing many of the tools covered along with other references to learn more for taking advantage of these tools.

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Package managers: Flatpak - Linux Desktop Applications


 

Flatpak is quickly becoming the best way to get Linux desktop applications up and running on a Linux PC. Flatpak applications operate in a sandbox with their own images and environments that download and mirror the existing system in an isolated environment. Once installed, the applications themselves offer a responsive, essentially native experience.

Case in point, all my work requires me to use Google Chrome, Slack, and occasionally Signal on my Linux desktop. All of these can run as Flatpak applications, and in some cases perform even better or more reliably as a Flatpak install vs a native desktop client. 

When first installing Flatpaks, there is some overhead. When installing, if there is a specific environment - say a graphics driver / library - required, than the application will list it as an additional download. This can eat away at disk space versus a native application, but often it is trivial in the long run given the size of modern disk drives, and the fact that most of these environments will be re-used by other applications overtime. 

While not terribly in depth, the above video seeks to demonstrate quickly the different ways for getting started with Flatpaks, how to use the command line interface, and hopefully how to better use Flatpaks to get up an running with Linux on the desktop (i.e. a computer with point and click, not just a terminal).

More information:

https://flatpak.org/

https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/basic-concepts.html

Good info from System76

More specific permission settings that may be needed with certain Flatpaks

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