Flatpak version

[Anx450z]

What feature or new tool do you think should be added to DevToys?

Flatpak version of the app.

Why do you think this is needed?

Easy installation on Linux distros with more compatibility.

Solution/Idea

No response

Comments

No response

[dylanmtaylor]

I'd love to see this as well. There are distros out there like Fedora Silverblue where Flatpaks are the preferred method of app delivery.

[JoelNichols]

Agreed. Alternatively, an AppImage would be fine too.

[0verEngineer]

This way all Linux distros would be able to easily use this software

[badcel]

Flatpak is not a bad idea as the GirCore binaries are build to match the flatpak binaries. This avoids missing dependencies and libraries which are named differently than the flatpak ones.

[veler]

Hi there,
Is anyone familiar with how to build a flatpak manifest? I'm reading the documentation and I'm getting quite confused by a few things. For your information, I'm quite a beginner at Linux. I learn it slowly while developing DevToys for it. I'm more of a Windows person.

If I base myself on the DEB package, I have a devtoys.desktop file like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=DevToys
Comment=A Swiss Army knife for developers.
GenericName=DevToys
Exec=/usr/bin/DevToys
Icon=/opt/devtoys/devtoys/Icon-Windows-Linux.png
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false
Categories=Development;Utility;Office
Keywords=devtoys

DevToys should be installed in /usr/bin/DevToys. The icon should be in /opt/devtoys/devtoys/Icon-Windows-Linux.png.
DevToys also has dependencies on libwebkitgtk-6.0-4 and libadwaita-1-0.

Let's say the built binaries of DevToys, ready to be packed, are in /devtoys-bin on my local machine. What does the flatpak manifest should look like?

I'm not finding a clear answer on how to include the 2 dependencies I mentioned above. I'm also confused by the build-commands section in the manifest and what I should put there in my case.
Can anyone please help me with it? :-)

Much appreciated!

[badcel]

I have not done it myself but there are already dotnet applications being distributed via flatpak:

• Pinta has no GirCore release yet but the project is pretty well structured.
• All nickvison apps (e.g. Denaro) are based on GirCore.

I would recommend comparing both ways to understand things (I have not done this myself yet). But i think it should get you started.

Additionally one day I found this on github: https://github.com/flathub/org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.dotnet8

I did not check it out in detail but perhaps it helps.

Im regard to libadwaita and webkitgtk: if you target the gnome runtime sdk in its current release 46 (this is what GirCore 0.5.0 is build for) it should just be available. See for example the Epiphany flatpak the GNOME web browser which uses both libraries.

[badcel]

One more thing: I don't know how it will work with extensions. There would probably be rights needed to access the home directory but if this is sufficient I don't know.

[hockdudu]

@veler You can take a look at https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/conventions.html. Flatpak expects a few conventions.

The Flatpak manifest doesn't only define where to install the application, but also how to build it. It should contain build instructions for the application.

Dependencies are also usually built from source in the manifest. But maybe they're on the GNOME runtime already? https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/available-runtimes.html

@badcel Thanks for the links. I have experimented a bit with Flatpak in the past, but didn't get to the point of publishing anything.

I have zero experience with .NET, that's what hinders me a bit here...

[veler]

@veler You can take a look at https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/conventions.html. Flatpak expects a few conventions.

The Flatpak manifest doesn't only define where to install the application, but also how to build it. It should contain build instructions for the application.

Dependencies are also usually built from source in the manifest. But maybe they're on the GNOME runtime already? https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/available-runtimes.html

@badcel Thanks for the links. I have experimented a bit with Flatpak in the past, but didn't get to the point of publishing anything.

I have zero experience with .NET, that's what hinders me a bit here...

Thanks @hockdudu . I will read this later today. Maybe it's already explained there but I will ask in case: what if the app is already built? I basically have all the binaries in a folder, ready to be packed in zip, Deb...etc

[hockdudu]

@veler You could use pre-built binaries, but AFAIK Flathub only allows binaries in exceptional circumstances. That's for auditing / safety reasons. By using sources, you can be sure the package doesn't do anything it shouldn't. With binaries, on the other hand, someone could have tampered it and added additional stuff (malware and the like).

See https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/requirements#best-practices