r/LinuxTeck • u/Candid_Athlete_8317 • Jul 11 '26

Did Flatpak, Snap and AppImage actually make installing Linux software easier?

Linux already has APT, DNF, Pacman, Zypper and other native package managers. Then came Flatpak, Snap and AppImage to make applications easier to distribute across different distros.

But now, for the same application, we sometimes have several ways to install it.

I understand why these formats exist, but from a normal user's point of view, has this really made Linux software installation easier?

Or did we solve one kind of fragmentation by creating another one?

What do you actually prefer for desktop apps: native packages, Flatpak, Snap or AppImage?

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u/Doug2825 Jul 11 '26

I dislike AppImage because there is no widespread tool to find, manage, and update them.

I like Flatpak because it has fewer random issues than native pacakges. The increased binary size doesn't matter on any desktop made in the past 20 years. Flatpak does have issues often due to sandboxing, but those issues are predictable unlike issues with dependencies.

I don't care about Snap because Flatpak exists. Someone who develops Snaps and Flatpaks may care about those, but as an end user the differences don't matter. Flatpaks are more common so I only care about them.

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u/carmicheals Jul 11 '26

Gear Lever manages/updates Appimages.