Change from Flatpak to .deb/APT Format as default Package Format in Gnome Software

[Ponce-De-Leon]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

Related to this Thread:

Software app and flatpack not always very good

This is not a question, but more of a tip to help someone else onboarding to Zorin from Mac. Since I started using Zorin last week and I installed "all my stuff" (my applications) that I used have on my Mac this has happened to me for several apps, that installing them via the "Software" app in Zorin was not a good choice. The apps lose some of their ability to interact with the OS outside the app itself, even though the app as such works fine. Example 1: Vivaldi browser and PWA:s (Progressive…

and numerious other Situations where Flataks (and Snap's) were a Problem because of it's Format and limited Permissions, I would suggest to change the default Package Format in Gnome Software to the .deb/APT Package. That can avoid Permissions-related Issues. Especially for new Users who might not know about that.

To be clear: I don't want suggest to ban Flatpaks. I only want suggest to don't set them as default Package Format.

[Cars10]

@Ponce-De-Leon

Especially for new Users who might not know about that.

New users (like me) have to Google the differences:
Synaptic (GUI) and APT (CLI) are traditional, distribution-specific package managers for DEB files, offering tight system integration and small file sizes. Flatpak and Snap are universal, sandboxed, containerized formats (Flatpak faster/safer, Snap better for CLI/servers) designed to work across all distributions, often requiring more disk space.

Key Comparisons:

• APT / Synaptic (Traditional): Best for core system software and stability on Debian/Ubuntu-based systems. They manage dependencies across the whole system, which can sometimes lead to library conflicts, though they are usually faster and smaller.
• Snap (Canonical/Ubuntu): Sandboxed, auto-updates, and excellent for both GUI and CLI apps (e.g., server tools). They are tightly integrated with the Snap Store, which is not fully open-source.
• Flatpak (Community-driven): Focused on desktop applications, offering better security sandboxing and faster app startup times than Snaps. It is generally more popular for application sandboxing (e.g., Flathub).

APT vs Snap vs Flatpak: Ubuntu Package Managers Explained (and When to Use Each)

or if you don't want to read:

[Ponce-De-Leon]

@Cars10

New users (like me) have to Google the differences:

But not everyone does that and simply installs what is presented and doesn't even pay Attention about the Package Format. Or ignore it for the Time.

[zabadabadoo]

@Ponce-De-Leon

not everyone does that and simply installs what is presented and doesn't even pay Attention about the Package Format. Or ignore it for the Time.

...so we then have to ask them how they installed the app when they report issues here. Sometimes having them list their Flatpak's and Snap's to find out. There must be a better way.