Whilst I cannot stand the application there are some people who need this for work. M$ in their infinite wisdom, ceased providing a platform for Linux in September this year. Those in need please go to here:
Scroll down the page and copy and paste the terminal commands for Debian/Ubuntu and other derivatives, or use the App Image.
Had to use this resource when rebuilding Notebook with MX-Linux 23.1 KDE for eldest who needs Teams for work occasionally.
Is there a benefit to this over just running the web app?
I'm not sure it adds any extra functionality. According to the project page
It uses the Web App and wraps it as a standalone application using Electron
It's not clear to me what benefit this brings over just installing or creating a shortcut to the web app via a browser?
Some people like the convenience of having the Teams icon in the panel? That is what I have done for my eldest who has Lupus and just one element of having Lupus is 'brain fog'.
Saving a web app to run in its own window and gain it's own icon can be done without this. The functionality is built into Chromium browsers, and for other browsers web app manager is an option: How to run websites as apps in Linux with any browser | ZDNET
This is why I was wondering if there is any added benefit to using this electron wrapper over other ways of getting the teams web app to run in its own window with own icon.
My work forces us to use Teams, too.
I installed the flatpak, though, which is also just a wrapper for the web version.
It works fine, with some occasional bugs. Sometimes the chats won't load, and the window for creating a new meeting in the calendar is always broken.
I had numerous problems with Teams when working from home to such an extent I refused to use it and advised work to use https://meet.jit.si. I created the room and password. No issues at all. The person I had main contact with forgot to log off at end of day and meeting room had been up for 3 days with no loss of connection. Also chat window was quicker and more efficient than email. Plus It can be linked to Outlook or Google Calendars if needed.
The other interesting thing I noticed when seeing what services were running while Teams was active is that GNU/Linux reported it as Skype for Business which is basically what Teams is. I've noticed that when the big boys take over a decent product they screw it up big time. Corel taking over Painter and JASC Paint Shop Pro are other examples.