The package formats Flatpaks and Snaps

LibreOffice All at Once

The run-time environment and localization require 200MB. Once installed, you can download the LibreOffice Flatpak with its 156 MByte [13]. After this, a standard user can install the package from the download folder via:

flatpak install --user --bundle LibreOffice.flatpak

It is irrelevant to this procedure whether a version of LibreOffice has already been installed, and if so, which version. The applications have no problems with one another. After about 20 seconds, you can start the office suite using

flatpak run org.libreoffice.LibreOffice

from the command line.

The run-time environments and the applications that have been installed are found in the home directory under ./local/share/flatpak . The man page and the flatpak -h command offer an overview of commands for Flatpak.

The Gnome software center also already comes with an integrated LibreOffice Flatpak. If another LibreOffice package has been installed via a standard procedure, then both versions appear here with icons that look identical to one another.

In addition, there are still some restrictions arising out of the early stage of development the format finds itself in. Since Flatpak applications are isolated from one another in sandboxes, LibreOffice still does not allow for hyperlinks to work from documents. Another feature yet to be completed is the online help, which does not currently load via F1. Also, there is still no Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Consequently, the functions, which are based on this environment, cannot be used.

Figure 10: Diagram describing the way Snapcraft works.

Conclusion

Flatpaks and Snaps provide an alternative to traditional package formats. The advantages they offer include compatibility independent of the distribution, installation without root rights, and isolation from both other packages and the host system. Potential disadvantages include the need for more space and the existence of previously undiscovered security issues due to the early stage of the format's development

Flatpaks are universally applicable. Testing under Debian with Flatpak from the experimental repository [14] works just as well as with Fedora 24. Snaps are generally found in the Ubuntu world of IoT gadgets, Ubuntu phones, desktops, servers, and the cloud. The user who utilizes Ubuntu and other distributions can also use Flatpaks under Ubuntu. It is doubtful whether Snaps will spread beyond Ubuntu.

The new package formats are good for some of the trials and tribulations experienced by developers and package maintainers plus users with customary applications. It is still not clear whether these new formats will be adopted more widely. Our opinion is that at a minimum, they will be able to hold their own next to DEB and RPM in the foreseeable future. Interest does exist on the development side as can be seen from the LibreOffice Flatpak tested here.

Mozilla and the newcomer Nextcloud have announced Snaps for their products. Currently, Flatpaks and Snaps can only demonstrate that the new formats work. Actual gains in security from isolation like the situation with containers can only be identified with the distribution of Wayland and Mir. At this point, nothing should stand in the way of the formats becoming more widely used.