Tar is not a package manager, it is just a packaging format. AppImage has the same problem.

Flatpak is a bit of a crappy package manager but at least it is one. And, due to its use of container technology, it allows the same packages to run on any Linux kernel (any Linux distro). That is pretty useful.

Of the other package managers, apk 3 is my favourite but the only distro that uses it is Chimera Linux. Pacman is good. dnf / RPM is ok. apt / deb is in last place for me. The recent Ubuntu 25.04 launch snafu illustrates some of the problems with apt. The first Linus Tech Tips Linux challenge really highlighted the dangers of apt.

I only used snap briefly but instantly hated it. Fstab was a mess. It was slow. It was proprietary. I fled before I could form an educated opinion.

Flatpak does not install KDE by default. It is only required if you install a KDE app. You can hardly blame it if you do that.

What you are thinking of is not a package manager but a compiler.

Flatpak is a common way to install something newer than you can get in your repo. If you are using apt in Debian Stable, Flatpak is a miracle. This is even the reason Ubuntu installs Firefox as a snap (their version of Flatpak).

As an Arch user for many years, my question is when is Arch going to ditch pacman and upgrade to APK 3?

You can change the labels but the groups in them would remain the same. :)

AppImage is a package format, not a package manager. Same with tar.

So, I would say the primary complaint should be a lack of package management.

Amazing! Thank you for diagnosing this issue for the rest of us.

This is exactly why Open Source works and why even huge companies cannot keep up with Open Source software once it has taken hold. The users drive it forward in a way that money alone cannot match.

I used COSMIC for a while and really liked the core DE. Being able to easily move between stacking and tiling is great and the workspaces work well. The new multi-monitor stuff sounds good.

I do not love the included apps. The terminal was ok but a bit of a memory pig. It is Alacrity based. All early days though and of course other apps work great with it, though with mixed UI.

Early versions leaked memory but apparently that was related to a bug in Glibc that they have now worked around.

If you are looking to pad your resume, after learning Docker, spend a tiny bit more time to learn the basics of Kubernetes (just the basics). Maybe install Minikube. Then you can add that to your resume as well.

This may be what you are trying to say but Docker makes reproducibility between environments far easier.

If it works in Docker on your machine, it will likely work in Docker equally well elsewhere. Or perhaps more important for you, if it worked for the dev, it will probably work for you too. Except for the network, the app always runs in the same environment (no matter where you deploy it).

Docker is kind of like shipping the software already installed on a laptop (just without the hardware). By that I mean that it is the software, already installed and configured, including all the libraries and utilities that it depends on.

It has certainly done so to me

Old habits

The kernel part of the NVIDIA driver is Open Source now.

The NVIDIA problems are almost entirely legacy at this point. Unless you are using something that ships ancient packages (looking at you Debian Stable), you should be fine.

Interesting to see the Clang stuff on there

Interesting to see the Clang attributes on there

Interesting to see the Clang attributes on there

Started with Soft Landing Systems (SLS). Pre-Slackware. Many hours downloading floppy disk images at school.

Moved to Red Hat (pre-Fedora and pre-RHEL) until I think 7.3 or so and then Mandrake. I did trial runs with many distros over time but none of them really stuck. Fedora for a release or two. Spent a few years on Manjaro for desktop and CentOS for server. Have been on Arch for many years now (or EndeavourOS). Never used Ubuntu really.

Moved to Proxmox for server. Although I never used Debian historically, quite a few of the containers I have on Proxmox now are Debian based as is Proxmox itself.

Lately, I have been using Chimera Linux for desktop though I have an Arch Distrobox on it so I guess I am a bit of a hybrid at this point.

Glad you are enjoying Arch. I agree, it is no longer hard to install.

Do you have an example of something in the Arch wiki that does not apply to EOS?

I mean, I guess most people self-installing Arch are not choosing Dracut (though you could and the Arch wiki covers it). I cannot really think of anything else though.