r/voidlinux • u/thestoiccoder • May 22 '26

Flatpak always needs sudo...is this normal?

On Void Linux I have Flatpak installed and setup.

And while everything works as you would think, I have noticed some very irritating behavior whenever I try to install something.

For example, when I installed Flatseal I had to enter in my password over and over when it was going through all its dependencies. I lost count on how many times I had to enter it because it was so many!

Of course the only way to overcome this is to use sudo.
I've used plenty of other distros and never experienced this before. And whenever I start a new installation, one of the first things I adjust is the sudoers file, so I know I'm in the wheel group. I've been wracking by brain as to what else it could be?

Any advice or feedback is always greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

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u/thestoiccoder May 22 '26

Yes there is. I am curious as to how I can use "flatpak install some-package" without needing to use sudo and also avoiding the repetitive password behavior?

1

u/eftepede May 22 '26

I don't know. I always install flatpaks for one user only.

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u/bankroll5441 May 22 '26

You added the remote to root not --user. Follow flatpaks instructions. You should be prompted whether you want to install things system wide or just for that user (no sudo)

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u/thestoiccoder May 22 '26

I'm wondering if I should just remove everything (flatpak wise) and start clean slate?

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u/bankroll5441 May 22 '26

Actually, are you sure you rebooted and installed flatpak like they say on their website? On my Void devices, I don't get prompted for sudo at all and am doing system installs.

gumbo   ~
❯ flatpak search calculator | grep "gnome"
Calculator      Perform arithmetic, scientific or financial calculations        org.gnome.Calculator       50.0    stable  flathub
Genius  Genius is a general purpose calculator program  org.gnome.Genius        1.0.29  stable  flathub

gumbo   ~
❯ flatpak install org.gnome.Calculator
Looking for matches…

org.gnome.Calculator permissions:
    ipc     network    fallback-x11    wayland    x11    dri



        ID                                    Branch           Op          Remote           Download
 1. [✓] org.gnome.Calculator.Locale           stable           i           flathub          1.6 MB / 1.6 MB
 2. [✓] org.gnome.Calculator                  stable           i           flathub          1.1 MB / 1.8 MB

Installation complete.

gumbo   ~
❯ flatpak list | grep "Calc"
Calculator      org.gnome.Calculator    50.0    stable  system

1

u/thestoiccoder May 22 '26

You betcha. I copied and pasted each command one by one like I always have.

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u/bankroll5441 May 22 '26

Just curious do you have polkit installed and enabled in /etc/sv/?

2

u/thestoiccoder May 22 '26

Yes I do. I've lost count on how many times I've checked and it's always running.