Re: [Help-smalltalk] Flatpak Package

[bill-auger]

Çağatay - you replied only to me instead of "reply all" to the list - i
will address your concern; but i do think this is important
enough to be on the public list; so there is no confusion about the
justification for avoiding flatpack, appimage, docker or any analogous
self-contained blobs - the same is as true for language-specific package
managers such as python-pip, ruby-gem, nodejs-npm, and such; but for
the opposite reason that they blindly pollute the filesystem with no
respect for existing files owned by other package managers

when using a well-supported distro, there should be no need to compile
anything yourself nor to use any alternative package managers, nor to
install software from any other source; and it is never recommended to
do so - the very purpose of a distro is to collect, compile, and
distribute popular useful software for the user - the main reason
should be obvious why it is desirable to avoid installing software from
a third-party, especially when that third-party accepts uploads from
*just anyone*; but instead, to install software using *only* your
trusted distro's package manager - this is so that you can be more
confident that the person who packaged the software that you use is
knowledgeable enough about that piece of software to maintain it
properly - that is to contrast with using software that was built by
someone who never actually used it themselves - some who you most
likely can not even verify their identity

therefore, one should never fear breaking their system by using the
distro's package manager - or else that is to say that one does not
trust the distro packager - which is to say that one does not trust
their distro - which means one should probably find a more trustworthy
distro to get their software from - if it ever happens that an official
distro package breaks the system, that is considered by an responsible
distro to be a severe bug and a high-priority task of the distro to
correct that as soon as possible - as long as one avoids rolling
distros, the user should always be confident that the distro package
manager will not break anything

as for this particular case of GNU smalltalk, it is true that the GUI
class browser does not work in the packages of several distros - that is
a known issue - (it works just fine on parabola now - BTW) - but
the primary feature that distinguishes GNU smalltalk from other
smalltalks is that it does not require a graphical environmment - it is
fully suitable to be used from the command line; and it's programs can
be written in your choice of text editor - the squeak-ish GUI browser
is really not necessary and is barely even mentioned in the
documentation - if you just start using GNU smalltalk with your text editor and
terminal as described in the documentation, i think you will find that
it is fully functional

again, i am not speaking for this project; but i assume that the reason
a high-priority was not given to fixing the GUI class browser is
because that is considered to be a non-essential component

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