Installing Flatpak on Ubuntu, RHEL, and openSUSE

Harnessing the Flexibility of Flatpak: Installation Guide for Ubuntu, RHEL, and openSUSE

Flatpak is a groundbreaking universal software utility that simplifies the distribution and installation of applications across different Linux distributions. This technology provides an isolated sandbox environment where applications run with all their dependencies, ensuring consistency regardless of the host system configuration. Installing Flatpak can significantly enhance user experience by offering access to a vast library of applications that aren’t always available in the default distribution repositories. Here’s how to get Flatpak installed and running on three popular Linux distributions: Ubuntu, RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), and openSUSE.

Installing Flatpak on Ubuntu

Ubuntu users can install Flatpak using the apt package manager. Typically, Flatpak is available in the Universe repository, which might be enabled by default. Here’s how to install it:

Update your system’s package list:
```
sudo apt update
```
Install Flatpak:
```
sudo apt install flatpak
```
Add the Flathub repository: Flathub is the most popular and recommended repository for Flatpak applications.
```
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
```
Restart your system (optional, but recommended to ensure all configurations are set):
```
sudo reboot
```

Now, Ubuntu users can search, install, and run applications from Flathub or other Flatpak repos.

Installing Flatpak on RHEL

For RHEL, the process is slightly more involved due to its server-oriented stability focus. You’ll use dnf as the package manager here:

Enable the EPEL repository to get access to more packages:

sudo dnf install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

Install Flatpak:
```
sudo dnf install flatpak
```

Add the Flathub repository:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

After installation, you might want to restart your machine as a good practice, though it's not always necessary.

Installing Flatpak on openSUSE

OpenSUSE uses zypper as its default package manager, known for its robustness and efficiency. Here's how to install Flatpak in openSUSE:

Refresh your repositories:
```
sudo zypper refresh
```
Install Flatpak:
```
sudo zypper install flatpak
```

Add the Flathub repository:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

That’s it! After installing Flatpak and adding the Flathub repository, openSUSE users can also benefit from the vast selection of applications provided.

Post Installation

Once Flatpak is installed, using it is straightforward across any Linux distribution. You can search for applications in Flathub and install them using simple Flatpak commands:

To search for an application:

flatpak search [application name]

To install an application:

flatpak install flathub [application ID]

Running an application:

flatpak run [application ID]

List installed applications:

flatpak list

Conclusion

Flatpak offers a revolutionary approach to running desktop applications on Linux. By installing Flatpak on your system, be it Ubuntu, RHEL, or openSUSE, you unlock a more extensive, robust, and straightforward way to manage applications outside the official distribution repositories. This guide should have armed you with the steps needed to install and start using Flatpak on your preferred Linux distribution. Enhance your Linux experience by leveraging the simplicity and breadth of applications that Flatpak brings to the table!