Flatpaks

The next stable release, Nuvola 4.0, will be distributed only as Flatpak (and Snap) packages. The transition is slowly happening in the Nuvola 3.1 Rolling Releases.

About Flatpak

Flatpak is the new framework for desktop applications on Linux. Distributing applications on Linux is a pain: different distributions in multiple versions, each with their own versions of libraries and packaging formats. Flatpak is here to change all that. It allows the same app to be installed on different Linux distributions, including different versions. And it has been designed from the ground up with security in mind, so that apps are isolated from each other and from the host system.

Check out Nuvola 3.1 Flatpaks

• ☢ Warning ☢ Flatpack builds are experimental and there are still a lot of unresolved issues.
• ★ Note ★ The rolling releases are only available to Nuvola Patrons.

Step 1: Install Flatpak

Debian Stretch & Sid

Flatpak and XDG Desktop Portal are available in the repository:

apt-get install flatpak xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk

Debian Jessie

Flatpak is available in the backports repository:

1. Enable Debian Jessie Backports.
2. Run apt-get -t jessie-backports install flatpak

XDG Desktop Portal is not available in the repository and cannot be build on Jessie because of dependencies, but I've created a very basic implementation of the XDG Desktop Portal for Debian Jessie. Run as root:

wget https://dl.tiliado.eu/flatpak/legacy/xdg-desktop-portal_0.0.2_amd64.deb
dpkg -i xdg-desktop-portal_0.0.2_amd64.deb

Ubuntu 16.04 and newer

There is a Flatpak PPA. Run following commands as root/sudo.

add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak
apt-get update
apt-get install flatpak

XDG Desktop Portal is available since Ubuntu 16.10, run apt-get install xdg-desktop-portal as root/sudo. For Ubuntu 16.04, XDG Desktop Portal Shim is necessary. Run as root/sudo:

wget https://dl.tiliado.eu/flatpak/legacy/xdg-desktop-portal-shim_1.0_amd64.deb
dpkg -i xdg-desktop-portal-shim_1.0_amd64.deb

Fedora 24 and newer

Flatpak as well as XDG Desktop Portal packages are available in the repository, run dnf install flatpak xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk as root/sudo.

Arch Linux

A flatpak is available in the repository, run pacman -Sy flatpak as root/sudo.

openSUSE

A flatpak package is available for openSUSE Tumbleweed. Run zypper install flatpak as root/sudo.

Mageia

A flatpak package is available in Cauldron. Run dnf install flatpak or urpmi flatpak as root/sudo.

Step 2: Add Flatpak Repositories and Install Runtimes

Run as root:

flatpak remote-add --from gnome https://sdk.gnome.org/gnome.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --from nuvola https://dl.tiliado.eu/flatpak/nuvola.flatpakrepo
flatpak install gnome org.gnome.Platform//3.22
flatpak install nuvola eu.tiliado.Nuvola

Step 3: Install and Launch Web App Scripts

Note: Not all Nuvola apps have been packaged yet.

1. Run flatpak remote-ls nuvola to get a list of available Flatpaks, e.g.:
   • eu.tiliado.Nuvola
   • eu.tiliado.Nuvola.Debug
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaApp8tracks
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppAmazonCloudPlayer
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppBandcamp
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppDeezer
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppGooglePlayMusic
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppOwncloudMusic
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppSiriusxm
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppYandexMusic
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaCoreDeveloperKit
   • eu.tiliado.NuvolaCoreDeveloperKit.Debug
2. Then run as root flatpak install nuvola FLATPAK_NAME to instal a particular Flatpak.

There should be new application launchers (one for Nuvola and one for each script) in an application drawer/menu/list/overview of your desktop environment. If there are none, try logging out and logging in. If you would like to launch Nuvola from a command line, type flatpak run eu.tiliado.Nuvola, flatpak run eu.tiliado.NuvolaAppDeezer, etc.