Re: Flatpak memory usage
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 07:11:02 +0100
<tomas@tuxteam.de> wrote:
>I'm not a friend of flatpaks and similar concepts, either. For me,
>it's not memory use, but the shifting of power from a distrubution
>model to single applications. I find that makes software less "free".
>
Not sure about the others, but at least Flathub doesn't even limit
itself to free software, even packages up proprietary stuff, like
VSCode. So the point is kind of moot, besides, not all distributions do
either. ;) With Debian being famously adamant in this respect we likely
all agree it's a good thing, in ideal theory if not actual practice.
But we likely also all agree we're not the whole world, and probably
shouldn't be.
And we are a tiny, tiny part. A snug niche (distribution) inside a
niche (Linux desktop) inside a niche (non-mobile platform). With each
of them by now probably shrinking, in users, developers, everything and
whether in numbers absolute or relative. Hmm. Now, cross-distribution
package managers are obviously an attempt, or invitation, at joining
forces at the second tier. Flatpak in particular is by no means a good
answer, it's horrible, but at least some people (why not in companies?)
are trying to give one. Provided you can see the problem, at least in
the long(ish) run, have you seen any obviously superior solutions?
Free is great but it also means a great amount of work. Oh and speaking
of work, Firefox 109.0 is known vulnerable. As of this writing Unstable
has 109.0. My flatpak'd Firefox on Debian is at 110.0, updated more
than 24 hours ago, actually taking less time than something of
comparable size via apt. Yes, ESR is patched, but I'm not talking about
it. ;) There's obviously a whole bunch of other problems with Flatpak,
security and otherwise, I'm not even recommending it if you can do
without and/or sometimes older versions. Nor is any of this seriously
intended to replace distributions. At best I think they might take away
a little work from them some day, or better yet (re)join and unite
efforts in some fashion. As things stand though everyone keeps rolling
their own userlands. I just doubt it's a plausible future for the Linux
desktop, if there is one. Cross your fingers.
Oliver
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