this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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target OS is debian or linux mint

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[–] nyan 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Which means that if you have a flatpak with an uncommon library and the dev stops issuing updated flatpaks because they get hit by a bus, you could be SOL with respect to that library. Distro libs are less likely to have this happen because very few distros have a bus factor of 1—there's usually someone who can take over.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

TIL about bus factor

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

if you have a flatpak with an uncommon library

In this case, you're responsible for packaging it yourself. This usually means specifying the git URL and build options in the manifest. You can see Krita doing this in their manifest because they don't depend on the KDE Platform, as they need much older dependencies. So they're responsible for over 1000 lines worth of dependencies.

The Freedesktop Platform is essentially a distribution unto itself, and I don't think there's ever been a case of dependencies in that distribution not being kept up-to-date.

Distro libs are less likely to have this happen because very few distros have a bus factor of 1—there’s usually someone who can take over.

Well...debatable. There were over 1200 orphaned packages in Debian last year, many of which had not been maintained in over 3 years.