…newby here… Quick question, can I install GNOME Evolution mail client on Fedora MATE ? or do I need to be running the full GNOME Fedora Workstation spin ?
You can install Evolution from Flathub on any distribution or spin you might be using.
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…great, will try that, Thank you !!
You just need the GTK libraries, which I presume will happen
automatically if you install the RPM package.
poc
Thank you for the reply ! …maybe I’ll try the RPM first then.
…curious… if I went and isntalled the flatpack, I assume that during that installation it would not mess up the fact that I may already have some of the package dependencies installed already ? …not sure I understand what the flatpack is, or how it “meshes” in with the already installed RPMs…
The RPM is always preferred where possible. A Flatpak is an essentially
self-contained environment. The fact that some of the components are
already installed in your regular system is simply ignored. Flatpak
apps run in a sandbox and are mostly isolated from the hosting system,
which in the case of Evolution can cause some unwanted hiccups, so it’s
only recommended when for some reason your system doesn’t support the
RPM version.
poc
What issues are happening in flatpak that don’t in native packaging? I’m extremely curious. Flatpaks are the best method to redistribute software. Slandering them in 2025 is funny.
One I’ve seen is people having problems connecting to their default
printer, because the Flatpak version doesn’t know what it is (not
insoluble but does require some extra fiddling). For this and other
examples, search ‘flatpak’ on this forum and on the Evolution mailing
list archives at:
https://lists.osuosl.org/mailman/listinfo/evolution-users
(The list is independent of the Discourse forum).
poc
Hi,
as the Flatpak (similar to Snap) is a sandbox, isolated from the
system, the app does not know what the host system offers, which, among
of other mentioned things, influences an “Open with” option in the
context menu of the attachments. The app does not know what apps
handling certain MIME type are installed, thus to open the attachment
you are asked separately what app should be used. That question is done
by the portals, not by the app (Evolution) itself.
The /tmp directory in the sandbox is not shared with the host system
/tmp, thus when you save files to the /tmp in the sandbox, you cannot
reach it in the host system /tmp.
Evolution in Flatpak is special, because to get all the fixes you also
need the evolution-data-server (eds). Some apps requiring the eds build
against some version and then use the host system version of the eds,
but that causes some fixes not being available (remember, the Flatpak
version of the Evolution is the best suitable for old (LTS) distros,
where the system Evolution is out of date). That causes the data stored
in the Flatpak not being shared with the system. They can be doubled on
the machine (if the account is configured in the GNOME Online
Accounts), and the Flatpak events and tasks are not visible in the
Clock “applet”, in the mini calendar of the GNOME desktop. Other
desktop environments may or may not use these events/tasks too, I know
GNOME Shell does for sure.
These are only things I recalled right now. As Patrick suggested, you
can search for the flatpak word. The thing is, the sandbox has its pros
and cons. It’s up to the user to decide which one is better. If I could
choose between the host-system installed Evolution and a Flatpak,
getting the same version, then I surely pick the host-system version
(also because it uses significantly less disk space when installed,
because it does not need any runtime for the things I’ve already part
of the system).
Just my opinion.
Bye,
Milan
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