Should I maintain multiple versions of the same Flatpak package?

Question

#flatpak list
Name                                                          Application ID                                         Version               Branch             Installation
Authenticator                                                 com.github.bilelmoussaoui.Authenticator                3.32.2                stable             system
Skype                                                         com.skype.Client                                       8.51.0.72             stable             system
Freedesktop.org Application Platform version 1.6              org.freedesktop.Platform                               1.6                   1.6                system
Freedesktop Platform                                          org.freedesktop.Platform                               18.08.37              18.08              system
Freedesktop Platform                                          org.freedesktop.Platform                               19.08.3               19.08              system
default                                                       org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default                                          19.08              system
nvidia-340-107                                                org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-340-107                                   1.4                system
FFmpeg extension                                              org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg                                              1.6                system
html5-codecs                                                  org.freedesktop.Platform.html5-codecs                                        18.08              system
openh264                                                      org.freedesktop.Platform.openh264                                            19.08              system
GNOME Application Platform version 3.34                       org.gnome.Platform                                                           3.34               system
Breeze Gtk theme                                              org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Breeze                                                     3.22               system

Can I uninstall Freedesktop.org Platform version 1.6 and one of the two other Freedesktop Platform (which one?) without breaking any dependency?

EDIT:

~$ sudo flatpak remove --unused


        ID                                       Arch            Branch
 1. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg          x86_64          1.6
 2. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform                 x86_64          1.6
 3. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale          x86_64          1.6
 4. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform                 x86_64          19.08
 5. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale          x86_64          19.08

Uninstall complete.
error: Refusing to operate on a user installation as root! This can lead to incorrect file ownership and permission errors.
~$ flatpak remove --unused
Nothing unused to uninstall

EDIT 2:

$ flatpak update 
Looking for updates…
Required runtime for org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-340-107/x86_64/1.4 (runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/1.6) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]: y


        ID                                       Arch            Branch          Op         Remote          Download
 1. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform                 x86_64          1.6             i          flathub                  184,4 MB / 395,4 MB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg          x86_64          1.6             i          flathub                    2,9 MB / 2,9 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale          x86_64          1.6             i          flathub                  620,0 kB / 177,1 MB
 4. [✓] org.gnome.Platform                       x86_64          3.34            u          flathub                  253,8 kB / 318,4 MB
 5. [✓] org.gnome.Platform.Locale                x86_64          3.34            u          flathub         1.0 kB / 322,7 MB

Changes complete.
$ flatpak remove --unused


        ID                                       Arch            Branch
 1. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg          x86_64          1.6
 2. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform                 x86_64          1.6
 3. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale          x86_64          1.6

Uninstall complete.
$ flatpak remove --unused
Nothing unused to uninstall
$ flatpak update 
Looking for updates…
Required runtime for org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-340-107/x86_64/1.4 (runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/1.6) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]: y


        ID                                         Arch             Branch           Remote            Download
 1. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform                   x86_64           1.6              flathub           184,4 MB / 395,4 MB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg            x86_64           1.6              flathub             2,9 MB / 2,9 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale            x86_64           1.6              flathub           620,0 kB / 177,1 MB

Installation complete.
$ flatpak remove --unused


        ID                                       Arch            Branch
 1. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg          x86_64          1.6
 2. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform                 x86_64          1.6
 3. [-] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale          x86_64          1.6

Uninstall complete.
$ flatpak update 
Looking for updates…
Required runtime for org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.nvidia-340-107/x86_64/1.4 (runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/1.6) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]: 


        ID                                         Arch             Branch           Remote            Download
 1. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform                   x86_64           1.6              flathub           184,4 MB / 395,4 MB
 2. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg            x86_64           1.6              flathub             2,9 MB / 2,9 MB
 3. [✓] org.freedesktop.Platform.Locale            x86_64           1.6              flathub           620,0 kB / 177,1 MB

Installation complete.

ajgringo619 · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-10T22:29:47.717

The reason you have multiple versions of (runtime) packages is because the apps you've installed (at one time, anyway) were bundled with different versions. For example, the Skype app uses the org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/18.08 version, as shown here:

$ flatpak info com.skype.Client

Skype - Call and message skype users, with video chat support

        ID: com.skype.Client
       Ref: app/com.skype.Client/x86_64/stable
      Arch: x86_64
    Branch: stable
   Version: 8.51.0.72
   License: LicenseRef-proprietary
Collection: org.flathub.Stable
  Download: 1.4 MB
 Installed: 3.6 MB
   Runtime: org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/18.08

       Sdk: org.freedesktop.Sdk/x86_64/18.08
    Commit: 33d87117f3d06e0e91bc47bc4d8f588707817bfb278312778f9621a75ed76acd
    Parent: 3c349350580315d12c7038848a1077c0d9bfdf2ae34c77109935b559a20caebf
   Subject: Revert "Update skypeforlinux-64.deb to 8.51.0.92" (bc3e41a3)
      Date: 2019-09-02 11:15:01 +0000

Sometimes, Flatpak isn't very good at cleaning up after itself. My system has (3) versions of the runtime you mention, all currently in use. You can try to run flatpak remove --unused, which is supposed to uninstall any packages that shouldn't be there, but it's not 100% reliable. If you accidentally remove a runtime your installation needs, it will be fixed the next time your system runs Flatpak maintenance or you run flatpak update manually.

Run flatpak update now; this will fix any dependency issues. — ajgringo619, Oct 11 '19 at 12:10
@jasmines - this has happened to me as well; I haven't found a solution to this. — ajgringo619, Oct 11 '19 at 15:35

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '19 at 18:19

0

Ideally, you could actually uninstall freedesktop. I'm pretty sure that all you have to do is install a GNOME software manager and manage those applications from there. Then again, I know more about Chrome OS and Mac OSX than Xfce4.

Sorry if I am not helpful. I may be able to give you a better answer after I do some research.

answered Oct 10 '19 at 18:19

Logan

472

1

This is not an XFCE/Gnome issue. Flatpaks are self-contained apps that don't care what DE is being used. If the OP were to remove all of the freedesktop packages, Skype would stop working. – ajgringo619 Oct 10 '19 at 22:31

Should I maintain multiple versions of the same Flatpak package?

2 Answers2