Flatpack - Yes or No

[Hamster1962]

Some Linux commentators discourage the use of Flatpacks because of their potential size and theming issues.
What does the collective Garuda Forum think?
I see FireDragon is available as a flatpack.

System:
Kernel: 6.6.63-1-cachyos-lts arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-cachyos-lts
root=UUID=7b049ab1-cf8c-4eb1-809e-b21343f9b233 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.2.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.9.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: A68HM-E33 V2 (MS-7721) v: 9.0
serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 8.5 date: 11/01/2018
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Athlon X4 860K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Steamroller
level: v2 built: 2014 process: GF 28nm family: 0x15 (21) model-id: 0x30 (48)
stepping: 1 microcode: 0x6003106
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 4 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x16 KiB; i-2x96 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 2x2 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3717 min/max: 1700/3700 boost: enabled scaling:
driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 3717 2: 3717 3: 3717
4: 3717 bogomips: 29543
Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Baffin [Radeon RX 460/560D / Pro
450/455/460/555/555X/560/560X] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire
driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm
built: 2016-20 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 ports:
active: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67ef
class-ID: 0300 temp: 33.0 C
Device-2: Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-2:2
chip-ID: 046d:085e class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.15 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu d-rect: 3840x1080
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 pos: right res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi
wayland: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.3.1-arch1.3
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 460 Graphics
(radeonsi polaris11 LLVM 18.1.8 DRM 3.54 6.6.63-1-cachyos-lts)
device-ID: 1002:67ef memory: 1.95 GiB unified: no display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.303 layers: 4 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
Radeon RX 460 Graphics (RADV POLARIS11) driver: N/A device-ID: 1002:67ef
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM
18.1.8 256 bits) driver: N/A device-ID: 10005:0000
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.2 chip-ID: 1022:780d
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon
RX 550 640SP / 560/560X] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0 class-ID: 0403
Device-3: Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Webcam driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-2:2
chip-ID: 046d:085e class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.6.63-1-cachyos-lts status: kernel-api tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: wgpia0 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.35 TiB used: 564.75 GiB (41.0%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT240M500SSD1
size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: MU05 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Crucial model: CT240M500SSD1
size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: MU05 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD10EALX-009BA0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1H15
scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 44.4 GiB (19.9%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 27.4 MiB (9.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
ID-3: /home raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 44.4 GiB (19.9%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 44.4 GiB (19.9%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 44.4 GiB (19.9%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.58 GiB used: 299.2 MiB (1.9%)
priority: 100 comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 28.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 33.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 1055
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.58 GiB used: 5.95 GiB (38.2%)
Processes: 259 Power: uptime: 2d 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.21 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1674 libs: 445 tools: octopi,pacseek,paru
Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: Bash
v: 5.2.37 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.36
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
System install date:     2024-08-28
Last full system update: 2024-12-22
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:

[Locutus]

My personal view is use no containerized apps unless you have on other choice.

[Sunda-Spirit]

I’ve recently started using Firedragon where your kernel comes from. It’s available in the AUR.
I reject Flatpak because I don’t need a second package manager that burrows into the system.

[Apocalypticus]

As far as I know Flatpak overrides the sandboxing of the browser. At least that’s the case with Firefox and its forks. You are less protected than with the browser’s original sandbox. So it’s a bad idea using flatpaked browsers.

[elite]

I only recommend them for apps where the devs of said app wont give support for any other format like bottles.

In garuda its not recommended either. Though you can use it you just can’t ask for support here as its on the apps dev.

As for the sand boxing as long as your app dosen’t need to interact with other apps its okay.
*Example If you use keepassXC an want to integrate it into any flatpak browser you can’t. You have to tear down the keepass one to the point just installing a normal browser and keeppass will save you a few hours of work. Same for things like gimp and darktable. Theming is a pain if you care about that.

The short is unless you have to don’t bother. Or unless you don’t want to touch the terminal for arch.