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by foobar33333 1909 days ago
If the package has host fs access, the sandbox is essentially turned off. A few packages have this because they just don't work without it. The thing is, clickbait bloggers go nuts over this but the state is not any worse than if you had used a .deb

The only real problem is that the Gnome Software program lists these programs with a green "Sandboxed" badge when the app may have anywhere from full sandboxing, to literally no sandboxing. I am certain this is not an intentional misleading feature because Gnome Software is hardly functional and need serious work across the entire program.
2 comments
tored 1909 days ago
Gnome Software is pretty much unusable for installing software.

I use it to find software and read reviews, but never install. I always use the terminal for that.

1. Gnome Software does not tell what the package name is for deb, flatpaks, snaps etc

2. Gnome Software does not say what type of package it is (deb, flatpak, snap etc) except when it’s multiple choice.

3. No overview of dependencies.

4. No information what is happening during install.

5. Buggy installation, common case, click on Install, nothing happens, click on Install again and get warning “hey it is already installing you fool!"

Not everyone is comfortable to use the terminal, fixing Gnome Software should be a high priority for distros.

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uneekname 1908 days ago
When I install something using dnf for example it installs near-instantaneously! Makes me wonder wtf Gnome Software does in the background to make installs so slow :P
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gbrown 1908 days ago
It also just seems sooooo slow. I also drop to the terminal for these tasks 100% of the time - including search. I’ll Google for software, and then dnf search to find the specific package if it’s offered.
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antimba 1908 days ago
> The only real problem is that the Gnome Software program lists these programs with a green "Sandboxed" badge when the app may have anywhere from full sandboxing, to literally no sandboxing.

The current mockups[1] for a UI refresh of GNOME Software have the “Sandboxed” badge and the permission details replaced by a context tile giving an overall “Safe”, “Potentially Unsafe”, or “Unsafe” rating, with additional indications and a safety dialog giving the full information. The ratings are determined from the permissions as well as license, whether the runtime is no longer supported, and whether the source is known.

[1]: https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/Design/software-mockups/-/raw...

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