flatpak

{{Infobox software

| name = Flatpak

| screenshot = Flatpak install screenshot.png

| caption = Example of installing Krita from Flathub with Flatpak

| title = Flatpak

| logo = File:Flatpak Logo.svg

| author = Alexander Larsson

| developer = Flatpak Team{{Cite web

| url = https://flatpak.org/about/

| title = About

| access-date = 2022-04-08

| archive-date = 2023-07-14

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230714093957/https://flatpak.org/about/

| url-status = live

}}

| released = {{Start date and age|2015|09|df=yes}}{{cite web

| url = https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/wiki/Flatpak%27s-History

| title = Flatpak's History

| website = GitHub

| access-date = 2018-08-19

| archive-date = 2022-04-10

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220410100207/https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/wiki/Flatpak%27s-History

| url-status = live

}}

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}}

| latest release date = {{Start date and age | {{wikidata|qualifier|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}} }}

| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|reference|preferred|edit|P348|P548=Q51930650}}

| latest preview date =

| programming language = C

| operating system = Linux

| license = LGPL-2.1-or-later{{Cite web

| url = https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/blob/master/COPYING

| title = COPYING

| website = GitHub

| date = 31 March 2015

| access-date = 2021-10-14

| archive-date = 2021-10-26

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211026233931/https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/blob/master/COPYING

| url-status = live

}}

| website = {{URL|https://flatpak.org}}

}}

Image:Flathub-badge-en-2023.svg

Flatpak is a utility for software deployment and package management for Linux. It provides a sandbox environment in which users can run application software in (partial) isolation from the rest of the system.{{cite web |url=https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2016/04/29/using-bubblewrap-in-xdg-app/ |title=Using bubblewrap in xdg-app |date=29 April 2016 |website=Alexander Larsson: Cool links and commentary |publisher=GNOME |first=Alexander |last=Larsson |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514162204/https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2016/04/29/using-bubblewrap-in-xdg-app/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news | last=Willis | first=Nathan | date=2015-01-21 | title=GNOME and application sandboxing revisited | url=https://lwn.net/Articles/630216/ | newspaper=LWN | access-date=2016-01-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125040209/https://lwn.net/Articles/630216/ | archive-date=2018-11-25 | url-status=dead }} Flatpak was known as xdg-app until 2016.{{cite web |last=Larsson |first=Alexander |date=9 May 2016 |title=Renamed to flatpak in git |url=https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg-app/2016-May/000204.html |access-date=1 June 2016 |website=freedesktop.org |archive-date=24 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624100628/https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg-app/2016-May/000204.html |url-status=live }}

Features

Applications using Flatpak need permissions to access resources such as Bluetooth, sound (with PulseAudio), network, and files. These permissions are configured by the maintainer of the Flatpak and can be added or removed by users on their system.{{Cite web|url=https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html|title=Sandbox Permissions|website=Flatpak documentation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24|archive-date=2019-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620113755/http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/flatpak-command-reference.html#flatpak-run|title=flatpak-run|website=Flatpak documentation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24|archive-date=2019-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626064920/http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/flatpak-command-reference.html#flatpak-run|url-status=live}}

Another key feature of Flatpak allows application developers to directly provide updates to users without going through Linux distributions, and without having to package and test the application separately for each distribution.{{cite web |last1=Larsson |first1=Alex |title=Kick-starting the revolution 1.0 |date=21 August 2018 |url=https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2018/08/21/kick-starting-the-revolution-1-0/ |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211219113521/https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2018/08/21/kick-starting-the-revolution-1-0/ |url-status=live }}

Because Flatpak runs in a sandbox (which provides a separate, ABI-stable version of common system libraries), it uses more space on the system than common native packages. However, OSTree, a technology underlying Flatpak, deduplicates matching files. This means that the first few Flatpak installations will occupy more space, but as more packages are added, the system will use space more efficiently.{{Cite web |last=TheEvilSkeleton |date=2022-05-16 |title=Response to "Flatpak Is Not the Future" |url=https://theevilskeleton.gitlab.io/2022/05/16/response-to-flatpak-is-not-the-future.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211215654/https://theevilskeleton.gitlab.io/2022/05/16/response-to-flatpak-is-not-the-future.html |archive-date=2023-02-11 |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=TheEvilSkeleton |language=en}}

Flathub

Flathub, a centralized repository (or remote source in the Flatpak terminology) located at {{code|flathub.org}}, is the de facto standard for obtaining applications packaged with Flatpak.{{Cite web|url=https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/07/7-flatpak-apps-can-install-right-now-flathub|title=7 Flatpak Apps You Can Install Right Now from Flathub|date=2017-07-20|website=OMG! Ubuntu!|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-29|archive-date=2019-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529052135/https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/07/7-flatpak-apps-can-install-right-now-flathub|url-status=live}} Packages are contributed by both Flathub administrators and application developers, with a stated preference for submissions from the developers themselves.{{Citation|title=Submission - Flathub Documentation.|date=2024-02-05|url=https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/submission/|publisher=Flathub|access-date=2024-02-05|archive-date=2024-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205022738/https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/submission/|url-status=live}}

Although Flathub is the de facto source for applications packaged with Flatpak, it is possible to host a Flatpak repository that is independent of Flathub.{{Cite web|url=https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/using-flatpak.html#list-remotes|title=List remotes|website=Flatpak documentation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24|archive-date=2019-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706195314/http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/using-flatpak.html#list-remotes|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Hosting a Repository |url=https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/hosting-a-repository.html |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-date=18 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218143651/http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/hosting-a-repository.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/introduction.html#reasons-to-use-flatpak|title=Reasons to use Flatpak|website=Flatpak documentation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-24|archive-date=2019-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617045032/http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/introduction.html#reasons-to-use-flatpak|url-status=live}}

Support

Theoretically, Flatpak apps can be installed on any existing and future Linux distribution, including those installed with the Windows Subsystem for Linux compatibility layer, so long as Bubblewrap and OSTree are available.

It can also be used on Linux kernel-based systems like ChromeOS.{{cite web|title=Chrome OS Quick Setup|url=https://flatpak.org/setup/Chrome%20OS|access-date=2020-07-22|archive-date=2020-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802052612/https://flatpak.org/setup/Chrome%20OS/|url-status=live}}