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Do you use containers for desktop software? (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by kyoji@beehaw.org to c/foss@beehaw.org

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If you do, what is your setup to run and maintain the containers? Have you experienced any problems that have been show-stoppers?

They seem like an attractive option in some cases, but I'm curious to hear how people use them for general computing.

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[–] Swimmerman96@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Containers like Docker/Podman? I only use that for selfhosted services on my servers. I can't speak to Docker/Podman applications used on desktop.

If you want to include more universal package methods such ad Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage, I use Flatpak installations for things I want to sandbox that don't have a focus on Linux Development. These are applications like Discord and Spotify. I'll also install applications through Flatpak that aren't available through my package manager, after checking that the Flatpak is maintained by the developer. An example of that which I use is Czkawka which finds and offers solutions for duplicate and similar files.
The way I used Flatpak, I haven't run into any show stopping issues although I do know using Flatpak for CLI applications can be difficult and annoying. I believe Flatpak CLI apps need to be run by using the full Flatpak package name instead of just the executable name.