For context: I habe a PC with an 8gb SSD and I somehow need to get an app on there that only has a flatpak release

  • hendrik
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    24 days ago

    Lots of people seem to like it. I also use it for like 2 or 3 desktop apps, but it’s alao littering my filesystem with gigabytes of runtimes. And I believe I can salely remove Skype now…

      • Björn Tantau
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        1424 days ago

        I like flatpaks when they come from the developer. They are often more stable, up-to-date and complete than those from OS repositories.

        What I don’t like about them is when I have to fight the permissions. They’re often too tight and make integration with the rest of the OS too hard.

        • @dustyData@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          Here’s a rarely known secret of the Linux world. Almost no software in a Linux system came from the developer.

          Every single distro, package manager or repository is handled by people who did not develop the software being packaged. The few exceptions are the software who distributes their own .deb/.rpm, appimage, flatpak or their own repository. But the bulk of tools, utilities and apps were handled by the people managing the distribution or the distro main repository. No sane developer has the team or the time to config, compile, package, and test their software to every single Linux distro that exists. Hence why Dev distributed versions are usually targeted to single channels and to specific distros and versions. Packages compatibility is a literal hell.

      • @Abnorc@lemm.ee
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        624 days ago

        No one does, but people like it when you install an application and it just works. It makes it easier to install applications regardless of which distro you’re on as well.

      • @Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        524 days ago

        The benefits easily outweighs the cost of some extra space use. We’re not talking about a lot here, after all, with dedupping, shared runtimes and what have you.

      • ddh
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        323 days ago

        People who like having fine-grained security controls over their apps?

          • ddh
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            23 days ago

            As far as I know, yes. You tell me the alternative if you’ve got it.

            If all you’ve got against Flatpak is it uses more storage, then I don’t know what to tell you. I have a 1TB drive that cost $80 and my GNOME system with 106 flatpaks uses just under 7%. The original post claiming 2TB is absurd.

            • @DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml
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              223 days ago

              There is no reason that you couldn’t, for instance, bind-mount the host’s nvidia drivers into the container namespace when launching the flatpak. Would avoid having to download the driver again, and reduce runtime memory pressure since the driver code pages would be shared between everything again.

              • ddh
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                123 days ago

                So don’t change the defaults?

      • hendrik
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        24 days ago

        Idk, probably all the people who downvoted OP and the majority of people here on Lemmy I met in discussions about Flatpak & Co. And If I look at the average size of a modern Windows installation, I’d say at least 70% of desktop users to begin with.

    • Possibly linux
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      224 days ago

      Gigabytes?

      I have a bunch of apps installed and it is only a little over a gigabyte.

      • hendrik
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        121 days ago

        Interesting. I have 4 tools installed as Flatpaks and that makes 4.4 GB

          • hendrik
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            21 days ago

            Rnote, Skype, Teams and Televido (Live TV stream). Since they’re not in the repo or I needed sandboxing. I mean I don’t need any help or anything. That laptop has enough storage and a beginner distro on it.