Release of 1.5.3-RC4: New tools!

We have a new release! And this one brought some goodies in our repo!

But before everything, I need to mention that I didn't plan to enlist Argent Linux on Distrowatch. I found it was already enlisted by someone. I do not know who.

Although it doesn't cause any ruckus, I personally didn't plan to enlist Argent Linux on Distrowatch, since I consider it still in a form of Release Candidate, towards stable.

Even though there are no major issues, since we're a typical Gentoo distro, there will always be some hiccups even when we deliver precompiled packages.

Please do consider that is firmly a hobby project for my development and gaming needs.

Without further ado, grab the ISO here:

https://iso.argentlinux.io/Argent.KDE.BETA.1.5.3-RC4.amd64.iso

As said above, we have a new goodie added in our repo:

Flatpakify

https://github.com/StefanCristian/Flatpakify.git

The whole idea behind flatpakify is to create flatpaks out of regular Gentoo ebuilds.

Basically you can install flatpakify directly from our repos via:

epkg i --with-bdeps y flatpakify

Since flatpakify is specifically created for Gentoo generally, and not for Argent, you need to switch to development mode, and install a few development tools:

epkg o libtool automake dev-build/make

And then:

avasile --devmode

After this, I would recommend reading all the documentation from the above link from Flatpakify.

Basically, after you follow a few instructions and understanding what's happening here, you will have the possibility to create a distro-agnostic flatpak out of your apps.

But not all apps are flatpakable.

Some of the ways of creating a flatpak out of a ebuild is like this:

sudo flatpakify app-misc/jq --install --with-deps --clean --rebuild-binary

By following the instructions after the compilation, you will have the precise instructions on how to handle and use that flatpak.

The package itself is highly experimental, it has a lot of caveats, so I would recommend going through the instructions first.

Otherwise, upon success, your application will be flatpakified into the universal format, while using Freedesktop SDK and Platform.

But we need a lot of tests!

So I know what other caveats or corner cases we need to treat.

In short:

  • Install Flatpakify: epkg i --with-bdeps y flatpakify
  • Install dev tools: epkg o libtool automake dev-build/make
  • Enable dev mode: avasile --devmode
  • Add Flathub remote: flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
  • Install Freedesktop Platform 24.08: sudo flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform//24.08
  • Install Freedesktop SDK 24.08: sudo flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Sdk//24.08
  • Build an example: sudo flatpakify app-misc/jq --install --with-deps --clean --rebuild-binary
  • Read the docs and review the caveats
  • Not all ebuilds are flatpakable
  • Share test results to us via contact or joining discord.
  • Be happy you don't have to write flatpaks manually anymore, just ebuilds!

Other useful news:

  • New epkg --help options
  • You can use epkg ai "package" in order to install package without confirmation
  • Avasile is more modern. More stable.
  • Don't forget about the sound issue which has not been solved yet. You must run as user:
  • systemctl --user enable --now pipewire-pulse.socket wireplumber.service
  • systemctl --user enable --now pipewire.service