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this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I don't like Flatpaks, but I guess this is better than nothing.
I'm surprised China doesn't have a lot. Are they not using Flathub, or perhaps Flatpaks?
If I remember correctly deepin which is the popular distro uses their own store of appimage files. That may have something to do with it
Take a look from this perspective: with distro packages, a separate person (the package maintainer) has to build a piece of software against the versions of dependencies the distro offers, which are not the ones the developer of the software uses and tests against. Then you have users that encounter bugs with this build of the software, and the developer of the software receiving bug reports against all kinds of dependency matrices, whose combinatorial complexity is overwhelming. With the different paces of distros in terms of package versions this is inevitable. On top you have overworked package maintainers which leads to sparingly updated distro packages or even orphaned ones.
For no party in the linux ecosystem this is a great experience.
Either it is this, or giving packages the opportunity to not share dependency versions, which can cost a bit of disk space. With the low price of storage, I think it becomes quite clear why flatpaks are so popular. Also in the end, users do not shape the linux landscape like they would with commercial products, as distros do not rely on sales to users. Developers and maintainers shape the landscape, and so what floats their boat is largely what happens.
For linux as a whole, flatpak is one of the greatest things that ever happened. For the first time, one can treat it as an actual platform, and that makes it a strong ecosystem.
I wouldn't be a Linux user if it weren't for flatpaks. Finally I can install the apps I need and they just work.
I don't like flatpaks or snaps or anything like it either, but I think they help a lot in situations like the Steam Deck or PinePhone where you want the base to be able to move slowly and be stable, while letting the apps on top move quickly.
The problems with flatpaks and similar is that it allows and even encourages developers to stick with horrendously outdated libraries, and your system is only as safe as the container's isolation defenses.
They also make it more difficult to go in and directly modify or tweak the program as the user.
And many developers are no longer offering bare-metal options.
They are probably having internet connection problems in China
Flathub is not blocked
I'd expect them having their own state controlled version
Chinese people use the same distros we do generally. But Linux is seen as much more of a professional thing there, and i think the people using it probably just compile things themselves, and have less of a need for flatpak. Huawei actually had a Linux laptop they were offering for sale for awhile, and a lot of the people buying it were having the store clerk put a cracked version of windows on it for them lol.