Flatpak updates give messages

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1

Hi, I did a dnf update just now and there was nothing to update. Then I typed flatpak update which gave me the following result:

flatpak update
Looking for updates…

Info: runtime org.freedesktop.Platform branch 23.08 is end-of-life, with reason:
   org.freedesktop.Platform 23.08 is no longer receiving fixes and security updates. Please update to a supported runtime version.
Info: applications using this runtime:
   org.mozilla.Thunderbird

Info: runtime org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default branch 23.08-extra is end-of-life, with reason:
   org.freedesktop.Platform 23.08 is no longer receiving fixes and security updates. Please update to a supported runtime version.
Info: applications using this extension:
   org.mozilla.Thunderbird

Info: runtime org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.default branch 23.08 is end-of-life, with reason:
   org.freedesktop.Platform 23.08 is no longer receiving fixes and security updates. Please update to a supported runtime version.
Info: applications using this extension:
   org.mozilla.Thunderbird


        ID                                     Branch       Op      Remote       Download
 1. [✓] org.clementine_player.Clementine       stable       u       flathub       14,8 kB / 26,1 MB
 2. [✓] org.kde.okular.Locale                  stable       u       flathub        1,5 kB / 17,0 MB
 3. [✓] org.kde.okular                         stable       u       flathub      429,3 kB / 50,2 MB

Updates complete.

I thought flatpaks would take care of their own dependencies and runtime environment. How is it possible that I apparently have a newer Thunderbird but I have to update the environment? How do I even do that, using flatpak update or through dnf?
Thanks.

2

They do. And Flatpaks can depend on specific versions of a runtime. The issue with Thunderbird is that it depends on a version that has reached EOL a little while back.

You can’t do much to fix this, I am afraid. In a case like this, which happens regularly with different Flatpaks, different runtimes, and different older versions, a Flatpak needs to be updated to use a newer version of its runtime(s). And it is the people who publish the Flatpak, in this case the Thunderbird developers, who need to do that. If you want to support them, you could write an issue in the Mozilla Bugzilla to let them know. But after that, you need to wait for the update from them.

I get the same message, but since I don’t have a Mozilla Bugzilla account, I had decided to wait and see for a few weeks. (I have too many bugtracker accounts for far too many projects already.)

2 Likes
3

There were long discussions here on the forums whether it’s ok or not that Flathub allows apps to be updated with EOL runtimes.

FWIW, Betterbird, based on the same ESR version as Thunderbird, points to a newer (not EOL) runtime:

$ flatpak remote-info flathub eu.betterbird.Betterbird

Betterbird - A better version of Thunderbird

        ID: eu.betterbird.Betterbird
       Ref: app/eu.betterbird.Betterbird/x86_64/stable
      Arch: x86_64
    Branch: stable
   Version: 140.3.1esr-bb12
   License: MPL-2.0
Collection: org.flathub.Stable
  Download: 120.9 MB
 Installed: 330.7 MB
   Runtime: org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/24.08
       Sdk: org.freedesktop.Sdk/x86_64/24.08

    Commit: 78b85c93d44befb025a7d525a9630f5460fdd2d823ea9d87422fde902a14df46
    Parent: 9e9f765fb607206090d6386cbe6e26d2b54b49591a3c73ce0cd3ef0e858a7db7
   Subject: Update to 140.3.1esr-bb12-build2 (#250) (f5f1385e1b7f)
      Date: 2025-10-01 12:59:31 +0000

I haven’t used it, so cannot really recommend it.

4

I have tried installing Betterbird twice in the last year or so and I never could get it to work, where Thunderbird just installs and it works. No idea what goes wrong, why it doesn’t install.
In the past week I got an Thunderbird update (140.3.1esr) but apparently no new runtime. Well, the old one is still working, but an updated runtime would be nice.

1 Like
5

Flatpaks and rpm packages are separate from each other and thus, cannot interact with one another.

Flatpaks do take care of their dependencies. The message you’re seeing simply informs you that the app depends on the EOL runtime (i.e. group of packages that apps can depend on, instead of providing all their dependencies themselves). Like others said, you can’t do much here, aside from informing the Thunderbird contributors of the issue. Hope my answer helps :slight_smile: