I’m running Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon. Since the older Geary version in the Ubuntu 20.04 repositories doesn’t work with my college’s MS Exchange account, I’m forced to use the Flatpak version, which does connect to it. (Full disclosure: I can’t stand using Flatpaks, Snaps, AppImages, etc, and ideally want everything running from .deb packages.)
The problem I’m running into is that the Flatpak version doesn’t integrate well with the desktop. The exact symptoms are:
The background process doesn’t automatically start with the Flatpak version. I had to manually find and then add the complicated Flatpak command for running Geary and add it my Startup apps.
Theming doesn’t follow my desktop theming at all with the Flatpak version.
When I get a new e-mail notification, clicking on the notification doesn’t open Geary with the Flatpak version.
All of these were working properly, as expected, with the Ubuntu repo version, but do not with the Flatpak version.
Basically, the Flatpak version just acts like it’s something completely alien to my system and doesn’t interact with it properly. I’ve noticed this with other Flatpaks and Snaps, which is one of the many reasons I avoid them. Unfortunately, Geary’s Ubuntu PPA’s, which would likely have given me exactly what I want and need, have been abandoned.
Is there a way to solve any of the above problems so I can have a nice-looking and nicely-functioning Geary again?
The background process doesn’t automatically start with the Flatpak version. I had to manually find and then add the complicated Flatpak command for running Geary and add it my Startup apps.
Support for this has landed in the relevant Flatpak portal, so we need to update Geary to use that - however your system would also need to be running a recent enough portal for it to work as well.
Theming doesn’t follow my desktop theming at all with the Flatpak version.
This is due to the Flatpak sandbox, and doesn’t have anything to do with Geary. There’s more information about this in the FAQ.
When I get a new e-mail notification, clicking on the notification doesn’t open Geary with the Flatpak version.
This is possibly due to your system not supporting the notification portal, or that not interacting with your desktop’s notification daemon. Geary simply uses GLib’s notification support - there’s nothing we can do about that.
Please see the FAQ (linked above) for more information about running Geary under Flatpak and especially the known limitations issue. In general though, while Flatpak allows you to keep 100% up-to-date with your applications, your base system needs to be kept reasonably up to date as well so that its Flatpak and portal daemons have the features needed for the apps to work properly.
As far as keeping an up-to-date Flatpak system, I’m limited by what Ubuntu 20.04 LTS provides. I’m not sure if that’s enough, or if there’s a way to get anything more recent functioning on that. I’ll have to look into it. Otherwise, I always keep my OS updated as much as possible.
If there was a way to use 3.38 on Linux Mint 20 in its native packaging, like with a PPA or other .deb repository, instead of using the Flatpak, that would be ideal and infinitely preferred. I really hate Flatpaks/Snaps/etc. because of all the annoying headaches they cause from a user standpoint. That said, I can understand why the devs prefer things like Flatpak.
I upgraded my Flatpak and portal to the latest version in the official Flatpak PPA, which I’m assuming is the newest one available. Haven’t noticed a difference yet. I also heard from someone looking into putting up an unofficial Geary PPA with the latest version and running on Ubuntu 20.04. If that sees the light of day, I may be able to just remove Flatpak and not have to mess with these problems.