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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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Who does flatpak/snap benefit? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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As a user, the best way to handle applications is a central repository where interoperability is guaranteed. Something like what Debian does with the base repos. I just run an install and it's all taken care of for me. What's more, I don't deal with unnecessary bloat from dozens of different versions of the same library according to the needs of each separate dev/team.

So the self-contained packages must be primarily of benefit to the devs, right? Except I was just reading through how flatpak handles dependencies: runtimes, base apps, and bundling. Runtimes and base apps supply dependencies to the whole system, so they only ever get installed once... but the documentation explicitly mentions that there are only few of both meaning that most devs will either have to do what repo devs do—ensure their app works with the standard libraries—or opt for bundling.

Devs being human—and humans being animals—this means the overall average tendency will be to bundle, because that's easier for them. Which means that I, the end user, now have more bloat, which incentivizes me to retreat to the disk-saving havens of repos, which incentivizes the devs to release on a repo anyway...

So again... who does this benefit? Or am I just completely misunderstanding the costs and benefits?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not really; they will try to automatically download dependencies, but they don't provide the application with resolution to the correct dependency. So upgrading libssl for one dependency could still break another.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

That hasn't been my experience in Debian, which is the example OP gave.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

I've run into this in Debian. Not sure what to tell you -- the base repo does not have an explicit contract that everything in it uses the same version of all available software.