Post ASXeyTzHEVE1MIicHA by jalcine@todon.eu
(DIR) More posts by jalcine@todon.eu
(DIR) Post #ASXaZFSFjDMDEKz2wK by BrideOfLinux@mastodon.opencloud.lu
2023-02-10T04:01:18Z
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Having my first look at @elementary which seems to install only Gnome's web browser by default, and doesn't seem to offer any other browser in its App Center. I used apt to install Firefox, but since app in elementary is using Ubuntu's repository, it gets installed as a Snap. Not optimal, but fine. Trouble is, there's no icon for opening it, probably because it installed as a snap, so I have to open it through the terminal. How do I get an icon for opening Firefox through the GUI? @danirabbit
(DIR) Post #ASXaZGFskh3XiGCgIS by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T04:29:13Z
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@BrideOfLinux I always recommend installing apps from Flatpak. In this case Firefox is available on Flathub, you can download the file and double click to install it :)
(DIR) Post #ASXaZGlmq4ZpJD8A1g by BrideOfLinux@mastodon.opencloud.lu
2023-02-10T04:33:26Z
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@danirabbit Does the UI have an easy way to reach Flathub, or do I have to use the browser? I've figured out that elementary is basically a flathub focused OS, but I can't find an easy way to reach it without opening a browser and googling. Am I missing something?
(DIR) Post #ASXaZHHKwloWt3tMCe by BrideOfLinux@mastodon.opencloud.lu
2023-02-10T04:17:52Z
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@elementary @danirabbit OK, I found it. Evidently requires a reboot.
(DIR) Post #ASXaZHKAmE5B1rDcci by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T05:01:35Z
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@BrideOfLinux We are Flatpak focused, but Flathub is just one of the available Flatpak remotes (kinda like the fediverse!). If you search for an app in AppCenter and there are no results we’ll show a handy link to search Flathub. I’d like to highlight other alt stores in the future as well. But the basic idea is that you can add whichever stores you want to get the apps you need, so we’re trying to stay agnostic
(DIR) Post #ASXaZHvkWW8kuOndC4 by neffscape@fosstodon.org
2023-02-10T07:42:42Z
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@danirabbit @BrideOfLinux I think the new sideloading mechanism is better than before, but it's still too difficult for the average, non expert user. I would prefere AppCenter to come with some suggested stores preloaded in the app as zorin does.
(DIR) Post #ASXaZIaA6GSyvjhuBU by thelinuxEXP@mastodon.social
2023-02-10T08:13:36Z
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@neffscape @danirabbit @BrideOfLinux A page in the onboarding app letting user enable flathub would go a long way, even with all the required warnings about curation / safety!
(DIR) Post #ASXaZJ6QAKGqXmnfSy by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:03:47Z
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@thelinuxEXP there’s been a link to Flathub in onboarding for a long time :)
(DIR) Post #ASXaZJj3qfBATcsWh6 by thelinuxEXP@mastodon.social
2023-02-10T15:25:40Z
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@danirabbit A link, not a toggle ;)
(DIR) Post #ASXaZKJDgE6QHlnP3Q by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:29:30Z
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@thelinuxEXP Yeah. Imo we’re already giving Flathub too much preferential treatment. Creating an App Store silo for Linux should feel obviously bad. Could really use the support of the tech press in pitching Flatpak as decentralized with multiple remotes and not just Flathub :)
(DIR) Post #ASXaZKo3pYlxpQE27s by Kaea@101010.pl
2023-02-10T15:36:46Z
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@danirabbit @thelinuxEXP I agree with Nicks opinion. It should be an easily accessible toggle to simplify things for new users. I know it's bad that flathub practically has a monopoly but people will eventually end up adding it to the system anyway. It just throws people off when they have to take more steps, look for more things online
(DIR) Post #ASXas1c5PkqrnuXKs4 by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:40:11Z
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@Kaea @thelinuxEXP I think part of the problem is we want to onboard people to the process of side loading and alt stores from any remote or directly from developers, and not just onboard them to Flathub. So going through the process of downloading a flatpak ref or bundle is what we want to show. A toggle doesn’t teach people how to get apps from anywhere else
(DIR) Post #ASXeyRcA3TXw01t7y4 by jalcine@todon.eu
2023-02-10T15:31:55Z
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@danirabbit One angle for that would be elementary hosting their own for apps (is that hard? would that require help? I half-suggest wanting to see/help with that) @thelinuxEXP
(DIR) Post #ASXeySONAE6wPYRd7A by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:33:21Z
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@jalcine Already been doing that for years! That’s what AppCenter is :)
(DIR) Post #ASXeySkLqVgxVijBNA by jalcine@todon.eu
2023-02-10T15:33:48Z
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@danirabbit (runs in shame) ahhh okay!
(DIR) Post #ASXeyT8SOsySiU0Qwi by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:35:06Z
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@jalcine haha, yeah it would really help appcenter adoption as well if people knew they could add more remotes than just Flathub on other distros
(DIR) Post #ASXeyTWCyZyNu97Oy0 by thelinuxEXP@mastodon.social
2023-02-10T15:39:16Z
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@danirabbit @jalcine The issue isn’t really that Flathub is the biggest remote, whether that’s good or bad, or that people don’t know there are others, it’s more that in its default state, elementary doesn’t give easy access to any office suite, or web browser that people are used to. If people have to manually add these applications, and add the biggest remote for Flatpak apps, they’re just not getting a user friendly experience.Of course that’s just my opinion.
(DIR) Post #ASXeyTzHEVE1MIicHA by jalcine@todon.eu
2023-02-10T15:40:42Z
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@thelinuxEXP @danirabbit this I can agree with. Being taken out of the app to find more remotes is a bit sucky. Maybe similar to other Debian-centric systems, a system setting that allows one to edit their remotes would be a welcome addition / middle ground?
(DIR) Post #ASXeyUMfpVwMWrfIkC by thelinuxEXP@mastodon.social
2023-02-10T15:44:09Z
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@jalcine @danirabbit Or maybe a handy list of various remotes people could add easily? If the goal is to let people know that flathub isn’t the only option, then showing multiple ones would solve the issue?
(DIR) Post #ASXeyUmCIcMBo1bgWm by jalcine@todon.eu
2023-02-10T15:47:22Z
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@thelinuxEXP I guess then the worry would be if those remotes go stale, have geographic reachability issues (like I wouldn't imagine every remote has the infra of something like mirrors.ubuntu.org, for example). A bad link on there _could_ be sent as elementary dropping the ball. Unless this set of links are refreshed remotely from some known index elementary _could_ curate, on top of their own.Side-note: if Flatpak remotes allowed for mirroring of other places, similar to how Docker registries can allow you to fallback Docker Hub, could that also resolve this discovery issue? There's already the affordance of non-curated apps so gating it there could work.@danirabbit
(DIR) Post #ASXeyVECcUl5Csi3BA by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:49:13Z
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@jalcine @thelinuxEXP Yeah it’s tough because we get blasted for having a “walled garden” with appcenter but also get blasted for not promoting a walled garden with Flathub when what we really want is “PPAs that don’t break your system”
(DIR) Post #ASXeyVfqxgsOade8HI by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:51:13Z
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@jalcine @thelinuxEXP side loading and promoting the use of alt stores is a huge feature in the current zeitgeist of locked down app stores. I really wish we could get some more positive press about how being able to choose your own stores and get apps from anywhere and have it be safe because of sandboxing is a good thing!
(DIR) Post #ASXeyXCVHmaVKBvioC by danirabbit@mastodon.online
2023-02-10T15:57:23Z
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@jalcine @thelinuxEXP I think something this is hard to get across is that AppCenter isn’t supposed to have every app ever in it. The thing we want people to know is “when AppCenter doesn’t have what I need, I can get it from an alt store or directly from the developer”. Side loading is a core part of the experience that everyone should be doing. That’s how it’s meant to be used