https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=505100
Bug ID: 505100
Summary: Discover - Flatpak - add custom install paths
Classification: Applications
Product: Discover
Version First 6.3.5
Reported In:
Platform: Fedora RPMs
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: wishlist
Priority: NOR
Component: Flatpak Backend
Assignee: plasma-b...@kde.org
Reporter: kde.lg...@slmail.me
CC: aleix...@kde.org, jgrul...@redhat.com,
trav...@redhat.com
Target Milestone: ---
Created attachment 181960
--> https://bugs.kde.org/attachment.cgi?id=181960&action=edit
Proposed button for adding Flatpak install locations within Discover
According to a closed issue in Flatpak
(https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/issues/1224#issuecomment-348665064), it is
possible to change the installation path of Flatpak applications, rather than
using the default location (in /var/...). In some cases this can be useful,
especially for devices which have a low amount of primary storage and need to
install apps to external storage (such as the Steam Deck). Or in devices which
are shared between family members which all have a different user and want to
only install apps for themselves.
The problem is, the Discover GUI does not expose this functionality and the
users are not given any indication that this is possible in the first place.
I propose implementing:
1. a way to add custom install paths from within Discover
2. a way to choose the install location on the application details screen in
Discover.
I believe the 2nd point is already implemented, since on one of my systems I
have the option of choosing "Flathub" and "Flathub (user)" (although I'm not
sure how this happened, since I don't remember setting this up and none of my
other systems have this option. I don't see the option of installing an
application to the user directory on my other devices, nor an option to enroll
into this behavior.).
According to "flatpak-installation" manual:
1) "flatpak can operate in system-wide or per-user mode. The system-wide data
is located in $prefix/var/lib/flatpak/, and the per-user data is in
$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/."
This sounds like there should always be a default of 2 options in Discover: a
system-wide AND a user installation. Or at least a way to opt users into
setting up a per-user installation.
Currently, users are defaulted to the system-wide install and never told they
can opt into installing apps in the user directory or in other/custom
locations.
2) "more system-wide installations can be defined via configuration files
/etc/flatpak/installations.d/"
Since this is a package manager feature, it makes sense to implement a GUI for
it within Discover. (In my opinion)
One of the approaches could be the following:
Add an "Install locations" button which opens a pop-up screen. In the pop-up
window, the user can manage install locations and create new ones. After
creating a new location, it would appear in the dropdown when the user clicks
"Install" in Discover.
Another approach could be:
Add an "Install location" dropdown with the following 3 default options:
"System", "User", "Create new"
The dropdown would decide where the app is installed, instead of the way it
works currently (The "Install" button opens it's own select menu where you
choose the destination and the repository)
However, this could become confusing. Some systems may have multiple flatpak
repositories, and from what I can see the manually created install locations
are made per-repository rather than applying to each repo. So, this solution
isn't ideal since the dropdown would become too busy in any scenario which
involves multiple flatpak repos.
What this feature request is trying to resolve:
I've used Flatpak for about 3 years now and I only recently learned that you
can actually create and specify install locations through the CLI. Until now I
just lived with the fact that flatpaks must be installed inside "/var/...".
A couple of Linux users I know have relied on using symlinks to "install"
flatpaks to external drives or even the user directory, as they didn't like
them being installed in /var/lib/flatpak/. But, it looks like they were doing a
hacky workaround for a feature which was already supported by flatpak for
almost a decade.
To me this seems like the feature itself is not exposed to users at all (if
it's exposed somewhere, I'm not aware of it). This means that users either have
to:
a) somehow find the 8-year old github comment describing how to do this through
the cli
b) resort to using workarounds (symlinks)
c) use Appimages and have them in the preferred directory, when they might want
to use Flatpaks instead
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