How are flatpak packages installed?

[NickStone]

I downloaded and installed kdenlive from a flatpak and runs very well. When trying to use the DVD wizard in kdenlive it says that dvdauthor needs to be installed and mkisofs or genisoimage needs to be installed. When looking at the packages that are installed on my pc, I notice that both dvd author and genisoimage are indeed installed. So how do flatpaks work? something tells me that flatpaks are not installed like "normal" packages on a Linux system.

[Jerry3904]

Basics are here (the Wiki is a good place to check):

https://mxlinux.org/wiki/applications/flatpaks

[Artim]

Flatpacks are still too new for me to put any trust in. Good ol' tried-and-true apt (or aptitude) is all I'll use.

[Brigs]

Flatpacks are still too new for me to put any trust in. Good ol' tried-and-true apt (or aptitude) is all I'll use.

+1

build from source rather than use flatpak. i'll learn how dependencies possibility crossing with stretch dev package.

[asqwerth]

If you do a search on this Forum regarding the use of flatpaks, you won't get much positive feedback ... they are a pain in the %^$ ... opt for AppImages from the source of your bleeding edge app that you wish to install ... BTW the Kdenlive standard (Stable) install in MX works just fine and includes all the dependencies your platpuck can't seem to find ... oh, and yes, just try to uninstall the platpuck and you'll see what a pack of trouble THAT entails ...

Both appimages and flatpaks are different alternatives you can try if you want a newer version of a package than can be found in the normal repos. However not every flatpak or appimage will work. Search this forum, you'll see appimages are not a magic solution and may also not always work. I selectively use a few appimages and flatpaks, depending which is more appropriate or available, in my mx16 installs.

But first course of action should always be to check the stable, Test and backports repos using MX package installer (MXPI). If available and those versions work fine for you, why jump straight to flatpaks?

Next option: make a package request on the appropriate subforum here. The packaging team will assess your request and if possible, they'll try building the package for you for testing.

Last resort: portable apps like appimages and flatpaks.

However, regarding the removal of an installed flatpak, MXPI does make it easy to uninstall the flatpak app and corresponding runtime from a graphical interface.

[asqwerth]

On MX15/16 (Jessie), I couldn't get appimage Krita version 4+ to work. This was from the official site. The 3 series was fine.

re: flatpak issues, did you install the flatpak apps with the .flatpakref files manually or were you applying the .flatpakref file using MXPI's flatpak tab>>advanced options? If manually, on MX or another distro?

I do want to get more information on this because if there are some issues, let's see if the MXPI flatpak functionality can be improved.

[NickStone]

re: flatpak issues, did you install the flatpak apps with the .flatpakref files manually or were you applying the .flatpakref file using MXPI's flatpak tab>>advanced options? If manually, on MX or another distro?

I do want to get more information on this because if there are some issues, let's see if the MXPI flatpak functionality can be improved.

I installed the flatpak from the flatpak tab in MXPI. I have also just checked that the version of kdenlive in the test repo is the same version as the flatpak. I am in two minds whether to remove the flatpak and replace it with the one from the test repo or keep the flatpak because it is working except for the DVD wizard.

[asqwerth]

re: flatpak issues, did you install the flatpak apps with the .flatpakref files manually or were you applying the .flatpakref file using MXPI's flatpak tab>>advanced options? If manually, on MX or another distro?

I do want to get more information on this because if there are some issues, let's see if the MXPI flatpak functionality can be improved.

I installed the flatpak from the flatpak tab in MXPI. I have also just checked that the version of kdenlive in the test repo is the same version as the flatpak. I am in two minds whether to remove the flatpak and replace it with the one from the test repo or keep the flatpak because it is working except for the DVD wizard.

Actually my post above was in response to Bluesguy because he mentioned:

...As for flatpack .ref files, they don't always uninstall cleanly, that's a fact in many cases I've experienced. Errors like claiming that the .ref can't be found, is not installed, a whole slew of possible malfunctions ... got to the point where I radically purged my system of all run-times and references to this f#*^pak garbage....

For you, I would say that if kdenlive in test repo is the same version, install the test repo one. It will take less space.

Then if it works well, including the DVD wizard, uninstall both the kdenlive flatpak app and (assuming you have no other flatpak app using the kde runtime) the kde runtime as well, using MXPI.

[asqwerth]

@NickStone,

Before you delete the flatpak kdenlive, you might want to backup your setup/configs from the kdenlive flatpak, which is saved under $HOME/.var/ subfolders.

Then when you install the Test Repo version of the package, you can paste the configs files into the corresponding subfolder for this. That's usually found in some subfolder in:
$HOME/.config
or
$HOME/.local/share/applications

That way you don't have to re-setup your Test Repo installation all over again.

I've done a little bit of that (or the other way round) for the setup of my oomox and lollypop flatpaks in MX15/16 , using the config contents from other distros where I was able to install these programs straight from their own repos. Similarly, if I made a new oomox theme using the flatpak version in MX15/16, I was able to copy the new theme config files from the $HOME/.var subfolder and copy them over to any of my other "normal" oomox installations in my other distros.

[asqwerth]

... no, I didn't use MXPI's flatpak functionalities for either installation or uninstall ... never will, since I find flatpak technology a bit rough around the edges and unwieldy in many respects ... I stay with Stable MX Repos for apps precisely for their well-tested stability ... and as you yourself do, keep a modest stash of AppImages for apps that I've thoroughly tested, that work OTB, easy to manage, and don't require any risks that Testing Repos may pose to my MX installation since I use my machine for endless productivity of all sorts (audio/video/images/documents) ...

Noted, on the first point.

Except I'm not sure you are supposed to find the flatpakref. I always thought the ref file was just a simple file with instructions specifying where to find the ACTUAL flatpak package from its remote repo (ie, the location/source). It isn't the actual flatpak package itself. So you shouldn't be uninstalling it, but the flatpak app and runtime that were installed using the instructions in the flatpakref file.

See http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/using-flatpak.html

The details of the application to be installed can also be provided by a .flatpakref file, which can be either remote or local. To specify a .flatpakref instead of manually providing the remote and application ID, run:

$ flatpak install https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/org. ... flatpakref

If the .flatpakref file specifies that the application is to be installed from a remote that hasn’t already been added, you will be asked whether to add it before the application is installed.

On the second point, I don't exactly do what you do. I have BOTH a very modest stash of Appimages AND a very selected few Flatpak installations. Plus I also have some Test Repo packages.

But it's true that I don't just install all sorts of portable apps or Test Repo packages willy nilly unless I really want a particular package or version not available in Stable repos. If a Stable repo version serves its purpose just fine, I don't see the point of installing a newer version, unless I want to test it out of curiosity and to give feedback to the packaging team.