flatpaks questions..

[orcas]

Why do flatpaks apps take such an enormous amount of space... like 3.1 GB ???

[xenopeek]

Flatpaks use runtimes — bundled system libraries. These are usually large but are shared between apps. So the first flatpak app you install that uses some runtime will be a big download and install because that runtime is needed as well. That is included in those numbers.

[orcas]

Got it. Thanks. I still think they’re wayyyy too big.
Maybe they should go on a diet… even the apps themselves are BIG.

[Midnight True]

Flatpak apps share their runtimes except those outdated once who need older runtimes/dependencies. So if you install more flatpak, the cost effective the runtimes/dependencies it uses.

For more info viewtopic.php?t=368501

[denonom]

Maybe they should go on a diet… even the apps themselves are BIG.

Maybe they should.

And maybe you should learn some coding and propose a way to offer platform-independent runtimes with a much smaller footprint.

I think everyone would be very grateful

I don't that the developers intentionally code the Flatpak system to have big downloads just to bother users with limited space and/or slow internet connections, do you?

[rene]

Flatpaks use runtimes — bundled system libraries.

Mind if I object a bit to that description? These runtimes really are complete mini-distributions with not just libraries but e.g. all standard GNU utilities, util-linux, bash, nano, ssh, Python, codecs, dbus, of course for the GNOME/KDE runtimes all of that, so on, so on. Uses native kernel and X server but that's about it.

Most directly instructive is likely launching a shell in one as e.g.

Code: Select all

flatpak run --command=bash org.gnome.Platform

and looking around: you find yourself in a non-graphical Linux distribution more complete than what some of us used to run fifteen or so years ago.