Install Flatpak on Ubuntu 19.10 and Ubuntu 19.04 system. Here are the terminal commands to install and add FlatPak Repository on Ubuntu and Linux Mint systems. Flatpak can be used with a total of 21 distros.
Features of Flatpak
1. Create one app and distribute it to the entire Linux desktop market.
2. Runtimes provide platforms of common libraries that you can depend on.
3. Develop and test your application in an environment that’s identical to the one users have.
4. Flatpak makes it easy to bundle your own libraries as part of your app.
5. Flatpak’s build tools are simple and easy to use, and come with a full set of documentation.
6. Flatpak apps continue to be compatible with new versions of Linux distributions.
7. Make your app available to a rapidly growing audience of Flatpak users, with Flathub.
8. Flatpak is developed by an independent community, with no lock-in to a single vendor.
Install Flatpak on Ubuntu
To install Flatpak on Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) or Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo), simply run:
sudo apt install flatpak
With older Ubuntu versions, the official Flatpak PPA is the recommended way to install Flatpak. To install it, run the following in a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexlarsson/flatpak
sudo apt update
sudo apt install flatpak
Install the Software Flatpak plugin
The Flatpak plugin for the Software app makes it possible to install apps without needing the command line. To install, run:
sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak
Add the Flathub repository
Flathub is the best place to get Flatpak apps. To enable it, run:
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Restart
To complete setup, restart your system.
Using Flatpak
flatpak is the primary Flatpak command, to which specific commands are appended. For example, the command to install something is flatpak install and the command to uninstall is flatpak uninstall.
Search Flatpak Apps
Applications can be found in any of your remotes using the search command. For example:
flatpak search gimp
Search will return any applications matching the search terms. Each search result includes the application ID and the remote that the application is in. In this example, the search term is gimp.
Install applications
To install an application, run:
flatpak install flathub org.gimp.GIMP
Here, flathub is the name of the remote the application is to be installed from, and org.gimp.GIMP is the ID of the application.
Sometimes, an application will require a particular runtime, and this will be installed prior to the application.
The details of the application to be installed can also be provided by a .flatpakref file, which can be either remote or local. To specify a .flatpakref instead of manually providing the remote and application ID, run:
flatpak install https://flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.gimp.GIMP.flatpakref
If the .flatpakref file specifies that the application is to be installed from a remote that hasn’t already been added, you will be asked whether to add it before the application is installed.
Running Applications
Once an application has been installed, it can be launched using the run command and its application ID:
flatpak run org.gimp.GIMP
Updating
To update all your installed applications and runtimes to the latest version, run:
flatpak update
List installed applications
To list the applications and runtimes you have installed, run:
flatpak list
Alternatively, to just list installed applications, run:
flatpak list --app
Remove an application
To remove an application, run:
flatpak uninstall org.gimp.GIMP
For the full list of Flatpak commands, run flatpak –help or see the Flatpak Command Reference http://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/flatpak-command-reference.html