[Request] Adopt flatpak as the official distribution method

Anki Suggestions
1

Hi! I would like to make a request about anki adopting flatpak/flathub as the official or one of the official distributions methods on linux.

From the user point of view, getting it from flathub is way more comfortable. Assuming they are using a distro that comes with flatpak support and flathub configured as a repository (lots of them do nowadays), then the user can find and get notified about updates, and install these updates through their software center, together with their regular updates. This is currently not possible with the way anki is officially distributed on linux.

Looking at this page: Linux Distro Packages - Anki Manual

Distributing it as a flatpak would go around these issues. The libraries that would get bundled with Anki would be up to you.

I understand that Anki is already distributed on flathub by a third party, I’ve been happily using it, I’d just feel even better if it was official.

Hope you consider it, thanks!!

4 Likes
2

See Could you provide an official Flatpak build of Anki for Linux users? .

3

Also, just to be clear: there are no significant advantages for a developer to package their software themselves. It’s an operation that is fairly complex on its own, and it’s better left to people who know what they’re doing (ie. packagers). Currently, there is a bit of a technical difficulty from the packagers standpoint due to Anki’s build system so it’s almost impossible to find a distribution or package manager that provides a true Anki packaging (which actually downloads the sources and builds it; as opposed to just fetching the binaries from ankiweb), but since flatpak does not require building from source, it’s no issue.

4

Maybe at one point, but I’m afraid it’s not at the top of my priority list at the moment.

3 Likes
5

Just my unsolicited two cents, but I am firmly against this. See flatpak is not the future.

1 Like
6

To be completely honest, I’m not a huge fan of flatpak either, but, you know, if some people use it, they may have their reasons. However, if Anki starts officially packaging itself for some linux distribution, I think it should start with packaging for Debian, as I think debian packages are the one most users will be able to use seamlessly (as a huge share of distributions, even among the most popular, are derived from Debian, and thus are apt-compatible).

1 Like
7

I support this.
Many apps including mkvtoolnix and handbrake work flawlessly via flatpaks.
Handbrake even recommends this method to get proper hw encoding.
It circumvents dependency hell among variety of distros.
Since they are platform agnostic. They would mostly work fine regardless of distro change or updates.
They are much more viable option in 2024 than ever before. Fedora atomic desktops (immutable) also promulgate the same.