![]() ![]() If Red Hat’s decision to only support the Flatpak version of LibreOffice is financially motivated (fewer support calls), criticism of the company is not necessarily due. Similarly, updating an application to use a newer library will not break other applications that use the older version. Containerized apps and the OS (itself being seen as an application in this context) come with their own dependencies, so a system-level update to a library, for example, will not break applications.Privileges are declarative, in other words. Each element of a machine’s software can’t access all other parts of the machine by default.Updates to the operating system or applications that cause problems to the smooth running of the desktop can be quickly rolled back without intervention at the filesystem level.The advantage of immutability at the system and user levels are said to be as follows: Arguments for and against immutable systems It could be argued that Red Hat is putting itself in a similar position: unless the user experience is perfect (or as good as before), the push-back volume will be high. Red Hat is giving its strongest signal to date that it’s pursuing an immutable model in computing applications but has chosen the application with great potential to annoy the maximum number of end-users.Ī similar decision by Canonical to ship the Firefox browser as a slow-to-load Snap caused huge disquiet among many users and forced the company to divert developer resources to reduce the double-digit startup time for a core application. It’s removing certain support elements from a package that is, for many non-technical users, a mainstay of their desktop workflows. What’s surprising about the decision by the Red Hat Enterprise Linux team is the application chosen. The best alternative to Office in Red Hat Linux Accessing resources controlled from inside the system space can be challenging for end users (printing, writing to network shares, core cryptography, for example) from inside a Flatpak application.Ī second-rate CX (customer experience) could be seen as passing problems from one area (cybersecurity, operations, desktop imaging, for example) to another: desktop support. At least that’s the theory – sandboxed applications sometimes have to be given broad-brush access to system space to allow certain workflows. Even if a Flatpak version of LibreOffice were compromised, it would run and operate entirely outside the operating system’s components and, therefore, better protect the core system. A compromised and widely-distributed installation package could, therefore, compromise many desktops. In pure security terms, having an application run in user space is safer than a “traditional” installation, which requires access to system space for the software to function. ![]()
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