Installation of Pycharm as a flatpak and python as a separate package on fedora silverblue for practise

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As suggested by my Udemy instructor Angela, I would appreciate any guidance in installing Python on Fedora Silver Blue 40 and PyCharm flatpack for practice, as suggested. Unfortunately, however, when installing it via Fedora Silver Blue software manager I encountered an alarm regarding its flatpack version; this has led me to two pressing questions that require immediate clarification.

1.) Would I need to install Python separately, or should I activate the one available in Fedora Silver Blue 40 to use it for practice purposes suggested by my Udemy instructor, Angela? I would appreciate any guidance in installing Python on Fedora Silver Blue 40 and PyCharm flatpack for practice, as suggested. Unfortunately, when installing it via Fedora Silver Blue software manager, I encountered an alarm regarding its flatpack version, which states that pycharm might lead to the execution of malicious code; this has led me to two pressing questions requiring immediate clarification.

2.) Do I install the flatpack version of PyCharm or should it come from an official source? After conducting some research online, it seems this feature of PyCharm is quite prevalent and nothing to worry about if installed from its official source.

I would also like to know the command to activate the already present default Python and how to download and install pycharm from the official source.

I plan to install it from the links below if the native versions for Fedora Silver Blue are not feasible.

and

I would also request advice on installing JetBrains toolbox as a .tarball file from the below link: JetBrains Toolbox App: Manage Your Tools with Ease

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There are multiple methods to do this, which all vary in user friendliness and “keep your system clean” philosophy.

Flatpak

I have not tried this, but it may work.

flatpak install pycharm
# choose which one you want. Community is free, Professional is not.

Both community and professional PyCharm are unofficial. This means PyCharm devs likely dont work on making the Flatpak work.

It could be a repackaged Snap though, which shares a few concepts like portals, so they could work on that and simultaneously fix the Flatpak.

Pycharm is proprietary, so nobody else can fix it for them.

Layering

Another method would be to enable the PyCharm repo (fedora-third-party enable) and layer it with rpm-ostree.

This will change your host operating system permanently, and slow down updates but it is fine, really.

rpm-ostree install python3-pip pycharm
# not sure how the package is called

Instead, if you want to use the free community edition, add the copr.

I made a script to simplify that, and recommend to use it.

copr enable phracek/PyCharm

rpm-ostree install python3-pip pycharm-community

Podman & Distrobox

The podman method would be to install both in a container. I recommend Distrobox here, against Fedoras decision to use “toolbx”, because it has a useful feature of separating your home directories.

This will keep your dev environment separate from your home, a crucial feature I think.

rpm-ostree install distrobox

# reboot

distrobox-create PyDev --home $HOME/PyDev

distrobox-enter PyDev

From there you can install pycharm-community:

sudo dnf copr enable phracek/PyCharm

sudo dnf install -y python3-pip pycharm-community

distrobox-export --app pycharm-community

If you want to use the professional edition:

fedora-third-party enable

sudo dnf --refresh install pycharm
# not sure how the app is called

distrobox-export --app pycharm

This will make the pycharm app visible in your app drawer.

Use

distrobox upgrade --all

To keep your boxes up-to-date. Another feature not existing in toolbx.

Official tarball

Executable files installed in a random user location, a setup script deals with the rest.

This also has pros and cons, but probably more pros, if the setup doesnt expect dnf.

Links:

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Download the Jetbrains toolbox: JetBrains Toolbox App: Manage Your Tools with Ease

Untar it and run the command, that will install a helper app for you that will let you install PyCharm. It will also download and configure all the python things you need via virtual environments, or conda, etc. There’s no need to mess with system stuff for this, the pycharm toolbox keeps everything in your home directory so it’s nice and neat.

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TLDR: I recommend doing what Jorge said above

The Flatptaks include their own python and likely don’t use anything from the host:

The Pycharm repo is included by default and can be enabled using fedora-third-party enable.

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yes there are a ton of options. the tarball and the RPMs from the official repo are officially supported and packaged.

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THank you very much

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