Ubuntu Flatpak Remix | Hacker News Reader

Ubuntu Flatpak Remix

flatpakremix.org

19 pointsmastazi11 comments

I think it'd be great to include just a couple reasons or tradeoffs for using flatpacks instead of snap. I know I prefer the tech not to be completely owned by Canonical for example.

They really go out of their way to say that snaps are perfectly fine and all and that this is just because they prefer flatpak.

No need to be kind people, snaps are absolutely terrible compared to flatpaks when it comes to desktop applications, nobody likes snaps.

Yup. As a developer who maintains a snap, I hate snaps. Worst packaging obstacle course I’ve ever had to participate in.

So there's an entire separate distribution now just to run "apt install flatpak"?

I agree the packaging war is silly, it seems pretty clear flatpak is going to win, and snap has lots of problems, etc. I sympathize-- I just can't imagine any scenario where enough people choose to use this distro for it to be reasonably recommendable.

Does anyone have a script to remove snap? I paste it, maybe it asks me some questions (do I want to do this or that), and it's done?

Installing Ubuntu and setting it up to be usable is a larger and larger pain in the neck.

I made a thing called "unsnap" which removes snaps, and can optionally install the flatpak equivalents. https://github.com/popey/unsnap

it's not interactive, it just does, but it works for me on ubuntu 22.04: https://github.com/mfinelli/arch-install/blob/master/ubuntu/...

I miss this question in the FAQ:

> Does the default installation come without snapd? Which packages are removed compared to a Ubuntu Desktop installation?

For me arguing over flatpak vs snap is like arguing whether ketchup or mustard is the best condiment for a sh*t sandwich.

Flatpak is pretty great if you want to containerize things you install or are using an immutable system. The Steam Deck supports Flatpak and it's how most people install things outside of Steam.

My experience with flatpaks has been awful. Just about every app I have ever installed via flatpak has been broken in some manner because of the containerization. Some of them I was bothered to work around using flatseal but mostly I just uninstall them and use the slightly older but actually fully working version available via my distro package manager.

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