i just got Bootstrap Studio and so i downloaded it and i have a Problem..
Im using Linux and not just any Linux but particuarly a Linux Version that doesnt use .deb files to install software (Solus). This is a problem because then i can only use the tar.gz file and this has lots of issues:
I cant install the Programm to my System, i can only start it from the directory where its in.
As the file is not installed to the system, i cant search for it in my System to find it as a programm.
I cant put in in my dock, because it is a file and not a programm.
I havent found out yet but i can imagine that it being just a file makes it hard to update it.
Distributing a Programm this way is pretty odd for the user as he has to deal with files and he has to find his way to use his programm.
If the user wants to integrate the file into his system there is a great headache waiting for him.
The user has to make the programm executable and not many people know how to do it, although its pretty easy to do actually.
Now im thankful that there is a tar.gz file at all, its awesome that i dont have to use windows or osx to use this programm. Thank you for that.
And i also see the issues of the next guy coming around and asking for a .rpm file, the next one asking for an arch compatible file and so on, but i think there is a solution, which is called flatpak.
A flatpak is a file that is pretty much the same thing as a .deb file but it has 3 core differences:
It doesnt change the system its build into because it comes with all its dependencies build into the .flatpak file.
It has less power because its running in a sandbox (This might be an issue but you should be able to handle it)
It works on close to every Linux System as it is not bound to debian or slackware or arch or whatever based distributions, but just on the availability of flatpak in the system. http://flatpak.org/getting.html
Flatpak is actively developed and maintained by a guy from Red Hat (A really big player in the Linux world) and many claim it is the future of application distribution on linux.
My proposal would be that you look into flatpak more and find out if it could work for the distribution of Bootstrap Studio as it would help many people in the linux community.
I could totally understand if you would say no though as there are probably not many people who buy BSS for Linux and i have never made a flatpak and so i dont know if headaches are involved in this.
Why flatpack and not Docker?
Seriously I don't think that installing a container platform with all that issues that come with that (some are already using LXC or OVZ, and I guess there can be problems with some old kernels on the host when using proxmox) is a good idea for this program. BSS is a tool for prototyping websites. Mockups and simple websites are created by web designers that probably use Windows 10 or latest Mac, with photoshop and other tools. I also have an old laptop with Linux Mint (18.1 Serena 32 bit Xfce version), and luckily it works fine, but I'm more the exception here. Don't get me wrong, but supporting any Linux distro probably gives more headaches than earnings for such a software, so I'm in favor of completely dropping *nix support for a better Windows and Mac functionality, even if that would cause me not being able to use it on my old laptop anymore.
How should docker help and who would want the hassle of having a docker instance installed?
Docker is server software, not desktop software and docker serves an entirely different purpose.
Flatpak on the other hand is for close to any distro a "sudo apt install flatpak" or finding it in the software center and after that double clicking the bootstrapstudio.flatpak file away. Thats it for the user. After that the software is installed to the system just like any other Software. Soon some will come with even flatpak preinstalled. (Solus for example)
Flatpak is more like apt and rpm but its not linux distribution specific, so everyone is able to use flatpaks.
Linux and Mac is Unix so dropping *nix support is dropping Mac also.
Linux is more than capable for webdev and webdesign, i do such stuff everyday with it.
Flatpak aims ro replace apt and rpm in the future so every linux system could install the same software on the same easy way and with the sandbox around the application it also makes Linux way safer.
The sandbox around flatpaks is comparable with the sandbox around ios apps.
Flatpaks already work on every major linux distribution so i dont see many reasons why this shouldnt work.
Why should someone distribute a deb file which only works on debian based linux distributions, when he could also distribute flatpaks which work everywhere.
Thanks for the suggestion! We will look into supporting Flatpak in the next releases. Having a single format for all linux distributions would make things easier for us.
As for the problem with the lack of desktop integration on your distro, there is a straightforward solution. You can create a ~/.local/share/applications/bootstrap-studio.desktop file which starts the Bootstrap Studio executable. You can use some of the other .desktop files on your system as a reference.
@marco, Docker was never meant to be used like that. It was created for the deployment of complex, multi-service applications and microservices architectures in the cloud (server applications).
There are three competing standards: AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap.
AppImage doesn’t have any corporate sponsorship and was never really accepted by the Linux community. Development is very slow, with the last stable release being over 2 years ago.
Snap is developed by Ubuntu and is not widely used outside of Ubuntu due to the snapd back-end being closed source. The community has outright rejected Snap as a universal replacement.
Flatpak is developed by Red Hat and works on most Linux distros. It is fully open source and is the recommended universal package format by GNOME. I would have to say that’s probably where the community is leaning. GNOME literally provides documentation for Flatpak. Flatpak - GNOME Developer Documentation