#1

I want to install as little to base-os as possible. Is there a recommended logical approach for utilizing desktop apps in toolbox?

For example, if I want to install gnome tools, should I…

1. put all my gnome tools into a single toolbox. example:
toolbox create -c gnome

2. put each gnome tool into its own toolbox. example:
toolbox create -c gnome-tweaks
toolbox create -c calendar

3. put all dnf tools into a single toolbox. for example, gnome tools, tilix, chrome, etc

Thoughts and recommendations?

1 Like
#2

None of these will work that well right now because the application files won’t appear on your host system. The recommended way for desktop apps is generally Flatpak; toolbox seems to work best for CLI / dev tools and the like.

#3

I understand what you mean. Maybe my example of gnome tools wasn’t a good one.

But nonetheless, would you put all your dev tools in a single toolbox or create toolboxes for each dev tool environment?

Example, would you put java project, python project, and tilex in the same toolbox? Or put java project in one toolbox and python project in another and tilix in a third. Or a different approach.

What’s the overhead of using multiple toolboxes?

#4

Personally I just stick with one, because ideally it would be split somehow e.g. by framework or language, but communicating across them isn’t really possible atm.

You could split it project by project but the disk space usage would probably be insane.

#5

I have been able to run a java application I made in toolbox, then use podman to attach to the toolbox container to use the Java debug tools to debug the running app, ie flight recorder.

#6

I more meant e.g. if you have Java in one container and Flutter in another, but Flutter wants to talk to Java, you’re either going to end up with two Java installations or trying to make shell scripts wrappers over varlink calls or something equally boring. :confused:

#7

Ah, gotcha, that makes perfect sense.

#8

I ponder over same things as @barn. So @refi64 you make ONE container and then use it as a Fedora workstation with dnf install?

#9

So, for instance, If Iset up a toolbox and working with something like ember JS and similar, would / can I set up node and npm in the toolbox itself along with atom etc?

#10

Atom would also have to be in the toolbox, and you’d have you start it from within the toolbox CLI unless you create a custom xdg desktop file for it.

toolbox will soon be getting a run command, so once that comes you’d be able to run flatpak-spawn --host toolbox run whatever from inside the Flatpak.

5 Likes
#11

wow, that sounds like a solution to IDE problems

#12

When I read this, I thought the OP was asking how do you run your Flatpak apps so they’re able to modify your toolbox or work with it. Since the home directory gets mounted into the container, you can use the flatpak app outside the container to edit it, but I haven’t figured out how to execute a command in the toolbox from external to the toolbox. I did however, get some graphical apps from inside the container/toolbox like gvim or gedit to work. Then I spent a few minutes installing packages to get Typora to work from inside the container. It did just create a bunch of bloat, but hey, I figured it out.

I still don’t understand how flatpak-spawn actually works either.