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Snap package support [Feature Request]
I was wondering if you might have an interest in making snap package version. Also, your app would be promoted on the snap store page.
Well, it's been a while since I last looked at Snap & friends - how easy would it be to just have it be a thin wrapper on top of itch-setup? Here's what the ArchLinux package looks like: https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/PKGBUILD?h=itch
The idea is that itch-setup is the canonical (no pun intended) way to install itch on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's developed in-house, downloads+extracts the latest version from our CDN, and uses our patching technology to let itch update itself.
I'm not interested in a snap that only packages the itch app and that has to be updated every time we make a new release. Packaging itch-setup would be fine. What do you think?
Hi @fasterthanlime, that would work and snaps do auto-update every time you put out a new release on GitHub.
I would suggest Flatpak over Snap, since it's more portable and follows more standards.
There's also AppImage, but it doesn't provide any advantages for Itch in particular, since itch-setup is already one file that doesn't require any special libraries to be installed to run.
Between Snap and Flatpak, I don't have a preference, all I care is for Linux apps to provide at least one (preferably both) of these security/privacy guarantees to users:
- Is it sandboxed? How can I know it's not secretly reading my files, microphone, or whatever?
- (for open-source apps) Is it a reproducible build? How can I know the app actually corresponds to claimed source code?
A Snapcraft/Flathub/F-Droid metadata file is great because it allows me to answer those questions without having to give too much trust to developers of every individual app I install.
I can see whether the store is downloading the repo and compiling it themselves or just having a wrapper over a pre-built binary. And if the app is closed-source (or a pre-built binary, which is effectively the same for me), then I can at least have some peace of mind by knowing that it's sandboxed, and the scope of permissions it has.
TL;DR Snap/Flatpak is useful only if it's not just a binary wrapper with classic/host permissions.
I literary came here because i find itch too complex to install for normal gamers on Linux. I use Pop!OS, and it has flathub integrated into app store by default, so if there was a Flatpak for Itch, it would automatically be easy to download on distros that implement flatpaks via flathub, instead of having to resort to a terminal.
I haven't done that much with it yet, but I made a prototype flatpak (https://github.com/YaBoiBurner/flathub/tree/io.itch.itch) There's still a decent amount of stuff I need to add to it (ex. icons, appdata, missing permissions), but I think so far stuff is working fine.
Having itch on flathub would mean very easy access for many Fedora/Pop/Elementary (probably more) users. I would love to see it put on there and it seems to be a simple task
So there is no snap package still either? And flatpak has been made but no progress on pushing it available for a common user?
@YaBoiBurner any plans to push that to Flathub?
Probably not. I'm pretty sure that a standalone version of the itch app would be needed (without an installer/updater, since flatpak can handle that) for a package that isn't horribly janky and barely functional to work.
If that gets fixed at some point, then I could probably get one put together that actually works properly.