As a newer Linux user I really like flatpaks.

I don't use them for most things I install but proprietary apps I want sandboxed or programs that have weird issues with dependencies I grab the flatpak.

For me on Arch, Flatpaks are kinda useless. I can maybe see the appeal for other distros but Arch already has up-to-date versions of everything and anything that's missing from the main repos is in the AUR.

I also don't like how it's a separate package manager, they take up more space, and to run things from the CLI it's flatpak run com.website.Something instead of just something. It's super cumbersome compared to using normal packages.

Lemmy (and phoronix) people are generally extremely repelled by new stuff in the Linux world

Agreed, flatpaks are great for desktop apps. I use Nix for the majority of my packages, but I use flatpak for proprietary for the sandboxing.

Yeah, they could have applied a logarithm or something.

relevant xkcd

https://xkcd.com/1138/

Right? "Oh look, country with huge population has more downloads than country with small population!"

I think they count every download of every package, every version, every time. It's not the number of unique users or even packages.

If you install 3 apps you might need to download 3 versions of graphics driver, 3 versions of desktop environment libraries and so on, It won't count as one user installing 3 apps, it will show up as 10 -20 downloads. And that's just the initial install, every time you update them it counts another 10-20.

It could be simple download requests, rather than MAC or IP address downloads.

Flatpak is a universal application packaging standard for Linux. It allows devs to create a single application that gets bundled with all necessary dependencies including versioning.

These apps run in their own semi-isolated "container" which makes immutable distros possible. (Distros like Fedora Silverblue that are effectively impossible to break by installing or removing critical system files.)

This means that a Linux app doesn't have to have a .deb version, an .rpm version, or be pre-compiled for any other distros. A user can simply go to Flathub, (the main repository for Flatpak apps), download the flatpak, and install it on their distro of choice.

It's quickly becoming the most popular way for users to install apps on Linux because it's so easy and quick. But there are a few downsides like size on disk, first party verification, per-distro optimizations, and the centralization of application sources. That's why some users aren't fully endorsing or embracing how popular they are becoming.

Another alternative is distrobox and bedrock linux.

I have like 20 flatpak software products running without any problem for 2 years now.

Your system might be messed up

Flatpak "containerizes" the program, which makes it more secure and less able to accidentally mess up other programs. Fuck if I know how it works.

Also you don't have to type in your password every time you want to update the program, so that's nice.

Honestly, you don't have to worry about what others say, you should use what works best for you. Personally I find them to be nice and comfortable to use, myself 😅