| Flatpak's benefits: - Cross-distro packaging (no need to provide N package formats - this one runs on all distros) - Faster update cycle for each app, if the package is maintained by the original developers - Sandboxing - Better compatibility all around, as the package runs the same on all distros (as opposed to some too-old or too-new module breaking something on X distro) - Some other goodies, like checking new releases of the source on Github etc Flatpak's drawbacks: - Modules are not shared, which can result in somewhat larger packages and potential vulnerabilities - Many packages are community-maintained by people who are not necessarily experts in the Linux ecosystem. Distro-provided packages usually have tighter requirements Personally, I use Flatpaks for the sandbox. I restrict all apps very heavily. |
I wish this were the case, but as a Flatpak user on Guix System I don’t think it’s entirely true. Flatpak apps still do seem to rely on some bits of the system, and they break in interesting ways when they aren’t where the app is expecting them to be.