Install Flatpak or .deb?

Affabile

I'm new to Linux, but I have used many different browsers over the years in Windows. My operating system is TUXEDO OS which is based on Ubuntu. My repo shows Vivaldi as available in Flatpak form and it notes that "This package is maintained by but not officially endorsed or supported by Vivaldi Technologies".

I would be interested to know if in your opinion I should install the Flatpak version or install it using the .deb version. In practice are there significant differences between them?

mib2berlin

@Affabile
Hi, the Flatpak version still has some issues and we got reports in the forum about.
Install the .deb version to get the well tested Vivaldi, most users use this and can help better if something happen.

Cheers, mib

Affabile

@mib2berlin Thank you for the information. I'm using Thunderbird and Firefox and I like the idea that Vivaldi has integrated email, calendar etc. It will be a big move for me to go to Vivaldi and I don't want to confuse matters by adding any problems to my Linux installation. That is why I asked the question.

If I install the deb version, I'll do it in a virtual machine which I'm proud to say I recently managed to install on my desktop.

I'll try Vivaldi there especially with my email and hopefully everything will be fine.

mib2berlin

@Affabile
If issues appears with mail or the sync feature open a new thread and mention Vivaldi is running on a VM.
Many users use VM's here and to my knowledge it work flawlessly there.

Welcome to the forum, mib

DoctorG

@Affabile I always install deb packages on Debian/Ubuntu related distributions as it works out of the box.

daniel

@Affabile The Vivaldi release on Snapcraft is official, and is probably the best option for most users on Ubuntu-derived distributions.

Note that both Flatpak and Snap puts some restrictions on what Vivaldi can do. E.g., Vivaldi may have issues communicating with another local app such as a local password manager. You may view this as security advantage, or a showstopper, depending on your needs.

DoctorG

@daniel said in Install Flatpak or .deb?:

The Vivaldi release on Snapcraft is official

Ah, good to know that its is official now.

And the FlatPak? Is it official?

Dancer18

I generally avoid flatpacks, as they are often offered without being tested and require too much memory.
It is always better to install the standard packages. Sometimes these are not completely up to date, which is why users fall back on alternatives.
In this case, I use an AppImage, but Vivaldi in the .deb package version is updated just as frequently as other versions.

Affabile

@daniel I think that TUXEDO OS has removed snap. Anyway I use KeePassXC a lot and maybe this will be a small annoyance if it doesn't work smoothly with Vivaldi.

daniel

@Affabile said in Install Flatpak or .deb?:

I use KeePassXC

Then I would recommend that you install the native DEB package without the extra containment from Flatpak or Snap.

Affabile

@daniel Thanks. I'll try installing it as you suggest.
I found the following steps to do so (from Perplexity.ai).

Open a terminal window on the TUXEDO system.
Add the Vivaldi repository by running this command:

echo 'deb [arch=amd64] http://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list

Import the Vivaldi public key:

wget -qO- https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

Update the package lists:

sudo apt update

Install Vivaldi:

sudo apt install vivaldi-stable

After completing these steps, the Vivaldi browser repository will be added to the TUXEDO system.

Do they sound reasonable to you?

DoctorG

@Affabile Shorter with no need to fetch keyring and add any repo:

# Fetch latest Vivaldi Stable
wget -c https://vivaldi.com/download/vivaldi-stable_amd64.deb
# Install Vivaldi Stable with dpkg
sudo dpkg -i vivaldi-stable_amd64.deb

Affabile

@DoctorG Thanks for the answer. How are any future updates be installed? Would I have to repeat the commands in a Terminal window or will my Vivaldi do the update?

DoctorG

@Affabile Such wget and dpkg command is only needed once.
I you install by the two lines i showed you, the update will be done automatically and will be indicated in your Linux updates notification.