Package layering mandatory with Kinoite?

Project Discussion
1

Hello, I was reading the getting started manual for Silverblue so I can familiarize with the “right way” to use it,

With regards to package layering, I have read on websites that on the Kinoite edition that the GUI-based application managers don’t work. (I think that’s on the bug tracker, too?) If I am mistaken or if that has been fixed, please correct me.

The reason I ask is that the manual I linked to above says that

“it’s generally expected that you use package layering sparingly, and use flatpak and dnf install inside a toolbox etc” – I’m specifically wondering about this as it pertains to Kinoite. I have no problem doing everything with rpm-ostree, I was basically treating it like any other package manager and installed a bunch of trivial programs with “rpm-ostree install (e.g., say, vim),” should I not be doing it like that? Will doing everything like this eventually cause problems?

2

There’s no rule that you can’t install layered package. If you have NVIDIA. You must layer the NVIDIA driver. If you want the default firefox to codec properly. You need to install “ffmpeg-libs” package.

3

Oh, so one does not have to actually use the Firefox-flatpak, then for proper multimedia support? I’ll try it when my rpm-ostree finishes updating, I have dial-up speeds so it takes some time.

Since making this post I’ve seen that toolbox basically enables you to run like “regular fedora” but do gui-apps also work via the toolbox, or is it for command line apps only? Is there a good approach for when to use specifically one (layering) over the other (toolbox?)

4

I wrote a response to someone else asking similar questions to you here. Might be useful to you.

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5

You can get GUI apps to run in a toolbox, though some may present more issues than others. But it’s still a bit cumbersome as it won’t create a .desktop file to integrate with your GUI application launcher for example. Generally, you should look to Flatpaks to provide GUI applications.

6

Awesome, thanks for chiming in, everybody. I’m assuming that the command line is the only way Kinoite users can manage flatpak, for now, correct?

7

I haven’t used toolbx before, but regularly use distrobox. Running GUI apps with distrobox is simple and just works™. Distrobox provides the relevant files so GUI apps appear well integrated in the host system.

But +1 for flatpaks, you can install flatpaks through Discover

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8

Distrobox is cool so far. Is the following an appropriate use case? (i.e., is it safe/stable/trustworthy enough for block device communication)

I want to use ZFS on some drives connected to my Silverblue/Kinoite machine, and I’d rather obtain the tools via a distro’s default repo rather than modify the repos on my SB/KT workstation.

(edit: I ran into this stumbling block, Docker loading kernel modules - Stack Overflow I guess I should have predicted that I’d need kernel-level support. I’ll just use a KVM for that specific example I gave, probably a better idea, anyway). I guess anything requiring a different kernel is going to be the main thing that limits Distrobox’s applications.

9

Yeah I’ve had anything but success with distrobox for usecases requiring loading different kernel modules. Personally I want to install GitHub - tuxedocomputers/tuxedo-keyboard: Kernel module for keyboard backlighting on TUXEDO Computers to regain control of my keyboard backlight, but it seems unlikely unless either the kernel module is upstreamed and included in the vanilla Kinoite kernel, or a current kernel with that module is distributed via koji or copr.

10

Discover should be able to manage Flatpaks. rpm-ostree support in Discover is still WIP.