Hot Topic: All Ubuntu Flavors Agree to Stop Using Flatpak

Flatpak will no longer be preinstalled in any of Ubuntu’s official flavors.

Developers of Ubuntu’s flavours have agreed to no longer offer Flatpak, preinstalled Flatpak apps, or plugins that allow users to install Flatpak apps through a GUI software tool in their default package sets.

The move applies to all 8 Ubuntu flavors as of the Ubuntu 23.04 release.

Why is this happening, and why now?

Ubuntu say the move will help ‘improve the out-of-the-box Ubuntu experience’ for new users by making it clearer about what an “Ubuntu experience” is.

The worry is that if you used an Ubuntu flavor offering Flatpak out-of-the-box, as Xubuntu and Ubuntu MATE currently do, you might assume it gets the same level of development attention and on-going support as DEB packages and Snap apps do from Canonical’s engineers.

That is not the case.

As far as Ubuntu is concerned, only DEB and snap software is intrinsic to the ‘Ubuntu experience’. That experience now needs to be offered everywhere. Flavor leads (apparently) agree, and will mirror Ubuntu in not offering Flatpak features in their default install in future releases.

Do keep in mind that “not installed by default” is not the same as “not available to install at all”.

To this end, Flatpak continues to be available in the Ubuntu repos, and users of Ubuntu flavors are free to install Flatpak (and any related packages) on their system, manually, as is their wont, anytime they like.

Also, Flatpak won’t be uninstalled or removed should a user of a flavour that currently offers them makes chooses to upgrade to Ubuntu 23.04 later this year.

A weird decision, IMO

This is a controversial “agreement” — I know some will argue I’m making it controversial by covering it, but c’est la vie. Besides, this site is banned from r/linux and I can guarantee they’ll be voicing their opinions on it as much as I.

Thing is, while I understand Ubuntu not wanting to ship Flatpak OOTB, flavors agreeing not to makes less sense. They are, by their nature, supposed to offer an alternatives to the stock Ubuntu experience, to add and augment; plug gaps; cater to other needs, etc.

And offering Flatpak feels like a pretty compelling facet of differentiation.

Ubuntu asking – or telling – its flavors to stop using something because it doesn’t use it is a head scratcher.

Flavors regularly use things Ubuntu doesn’t, things one could argue are more intrinsic to an “Ubuntu experience”, like the same installers, login manager, branding, etc.

Why single out Flatpak?

Flatpak is not some mothballed package sitting in the universe repo out of habit rather than need. Flatpak is robust, actively developed, and well maintained – and spoiler: it’s also not going anywhere, no matter how much some may want it to.

I don’t care which side of the ‘Flatpak vs snaps’ fence anyone gets their posterior splinters from. I, as ever, advocate a “use what works for you” approach to Linux. Snaps – great! AppImages – cool! Nix – have at it! PPAs only – you do you, pal.

Effectively blanket banning Flatpak from default installs by making this change, and not underpinning it with any sort of technical reason why it’s necessary to maintain an “Ubuntu expiernece” seems off.

Ubuntu is drawing an ideological line in the sand that no-one has asked it to make.

Which is kinda weird.