this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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Native, Containers, Appimages. Flatpak not in a million years.
I really don't know how to feel about all the Mint/flatpak supporters. It feels like a swarm of Windows refugees that have no interest in learning about the existing culture.
Flatpaks, Gnome, KDE, they're all just bloat. Back in the 90's, Unix/BSD/Linux were everything that Windows wasn't. Fast, stable, infinitely flexible. I cherished grepping for Exim config settings in /etc rather than searching through 250 management console tabs for MS Exchange.
I run Arch and nearly everything I need is available as a package or in the AUR, except for the real niche apps that I can grab via cargo/pip/npm/podman. Occasionally however I find some app I'm interested in and they only support Ubuntu or Flatpak, and I feel like it's getting worse so it's not like I can just ignore it.
Ah, typical Arch user response. "Everything is bloat. Stop having fun." If it works for somebody else, let them. I get where you're coming from, needlessly adding things because you can, leads to enshittification. But, trying new ways of doing things is the whole point. If it works and the majority of people use it then it succeeded. Bloat or not, if it gets new users to switch then it's a net positive. Plus, Gentoo>Arch. If you don't use custom flags and debloat the kernel you're argument is invalid.
If it was just another method of distribution I wouldn't care. When it becomes the only or preferred method, then I care.
If market share is your only metric for success, then I don't know what to say. Look at the amount of threads/people stating "this basic thing didn't work so it had to be the distros, switching distros solved my problem rather than trying to diagnose it". Your idea of a "net positive" is a group of computer-illiterate Windows users who are now computer-illiterate Linux users, congratulations.
And Gentoo? I remember drobbins from when we were on the Stampede Linux team and he was a dick then, apparently he still is. I wouldn't touch Gentoo with a 10 foot pole.
There are different types of users. Those who want something to work out of the box and those who like to put in the work to make the os into something personal. Usually, at least with the people I've come across, if you give them something the "works" but if they can tinker and make it better they'd learn. Now, not everybody is like that. Some just want to browse the Internet and play games. Flatpak, while not perfect, is a solution to a problem. Not everybody wants to adjust config files and/or configure wine bottles for every game.
As for your comment about drobbins... I can't argue. The greatest thing about Linux is the freedom to use what ever distro works for your needs. If switching from one because it doesn't do what you want, by all means, switch. But, if you are more computer literate and like to learn about how the os actually works; it doesn't matter which distro, you can figure out how to fix the problem and contribute to the community so others can fix it too.
I've been using Linux (also Arch, several years, happily!) since 1996 and for a long time I've wondered why every software I run gets access to every file I have.
Flatpak is one way to fix that.
Oh okay, I see. You don't perhaps care about programs reading the files of other programs. Well, that's fine, everybody has their own threat models.