this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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A few years ago we were able to upgrade everything (OS and Apps) using a single command. I remember this was something we boasted about when talking to Windows and Mac fans. It was such an amazing feature. Something that users of proprietary systems hadn't even heard about. We had this on desktops before things like Apple's App Store and Play Store were a thing.

We can no longer do that thanks to Flatpaks and Snaps as well as AppImages.

Recently i upgraded my Fedora system. I few days later i found out i was runnig some older apps since they were Flatpaks (i had completely forgotten how I installed bitwarden for instance.)

Do you miss the old system too?

Is it possible to bring back that experience? A unified, reliable CLI solution to make sure EVERYTHING is up to date?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

It's wild what can be done with some clever aliases. Linux is better now than ever before.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

What about pkcon? I haven't used it in particular, but packagekit based GUIs work pretty well in my experience, and then it supports flatpak/snap/apt/kde addons/etc in one interface, which is better than it was originally.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

yeah like other people have rec'd, I just wrote a script for installing/removing/upgrading/searching all the package managers I have. this was used as a tongue in cheek jab and has never truly been a brag.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I know that a lot of people share the same thoughts with you but I respectfully disagree. If you want your system to be updated only with your apt/yum/dnf program, then just don't install anything useing snap/flatpak/etc. Sure, you will not have all the apps available in the repos, which was also the case in the past before these systems. Back then, your only option was to compile from source, which was more work-intensive than flatpaks/appimages/snaps. And updating was also much more complicated. Therefore, unless you wanted something really special, you'd stick to your repos. Flatpaks allow developers to distribute their software (and users to install it) in a less labour-intensive manner for the developer. Compiling and testing your app for Debian, Fedora, Arch, SuSE, MX-Linux, Linux Mint, Linux Mint DE, Gentoo, and all the other popular distros is an impossible task for small developers. Flatpaks was a godsend for them and for the users who don't want to compile from source. Now, you can argue that we shouldn't have all these systems (flatpak, snap, appimage, docker, etc...) but one would be OK. And again I will disagree. One of the most important aspects of FOSS is diversity. Embrace it even with its drawbacks. It would require a much longer post to explain this and others have done it already better than I would.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The official software manager on my Fedora system (Discover) presents me with Flatpaks. If I use Discover for updating ,the Flatpaks will update too. But when I use the official CLI tool to upgrade the system only RPM packages are updated. The other package managers on the system are not affected (Flatpaks, Snap, Cargo, PIP). I think there should be no discrepancy between CLI and GUI interfaces for system updates. The fact that I should "remember" how to update stuff shows that something is wrong or is not perfect.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I mostly stick to things in the repos, if theres something I want that's not yet packaged I package it myself because Gentoo packages are fancy bash scripts with libraries (eclasses) to handle the normal make && make install sort of things for most build systems

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I use Fedora for work, but ArchLinux at home. If you really want to skip flatpak then you need the AUR.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Snap forces updates, and you cannot disable them. So if you use snaps, I guess you can stop worrying and keep going with your usual apt routine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

What a weird question, also that was never the case in the first place. You can still accomplish this with a simple bash script too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Yeah, flatpaks are a pain in the ass. So glad that I don't have to use them since switching to Arch.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Is it possible to bring back that experience? A unified, reliable CLI solution to make sure EVERYTHING is up to date?

Yes. Use a Linux distro that doesn't use flatpacks and you're good to go.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Which is kinda one of the main reasons I started to like and still like gentoo. I do understand that it's not for everyone as a daily driver. Maybe Arch could also fit?

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