Create flatpak distribution for Linux

[nhthn]

flatpak seems to be a good way to go for packaging Linux binaries in a way that works across multiple distributions.

[nhthn]

putting this on my personal backlog -- reopen if you plan on working on this before i do.

[zapateo]

Any progress on this?

[nhthn]

@brianlheim is working on CPack which will address many SC packaging issues, but nobody's specifically working on this or planning to. can someone close this issue? (im not logged in on mobile)

[joshpar]

looks closed already

[Newbytee]

Are there any plans to revitalise these efforts? Would you be open to outside help from the community to make this happen?

[dyfer]

I am certainly open to help from the community :)

[Newbytee]

Glad to hear. Could we reopen this in that case? I may have a go at it soon.

[djiamnot]

So, I was looking for SC on flathub and for any efforts towards that, and stumbled upon this repo and since it didn't include sc3 plugins, I contributed to it and only after found this issue here. It makes sense, that SuperCollider org claims parenthood on flatpak. So, I've communicated with @x37v, and we agreed that I propose this solution here.

I've tested the build, and it works on my computer and @x37v reported success installing it from a USB device, so this is, potentially, almost ready to ship (will have to update to pull the latest version). So, if there's anyone with more experience building flatpaks, please let us know if the manifest can be improved. Additionally, if someone has already an idea of how this could be integrated into this repo, I'm willing to tackle the process.

Can't wait to run SC on platforms that make flatpak a default (and much more friction-less than other methods)!

Cheers!

[x37v]

@x37v reported success installing it from a USB device

I haven't actually installed the SC flatpak from USB yet

[quimnuss]

What's missing then? Installing from usb?

[djiamnot]

Actually, installing from USB was one "easy" way to test it. I made some progress. The flatpak package builds with current release of SC and sc3-plugins (3.13.0), and once it's built into a bundle, can be installed locally. I documented the procedure in my most recent PR. I did not test it extensively, but SCIDE runs on my testing hardware, and I'm able to install a Quark, and play SinOsc.ar 😄

Now that the bundle seems usable, I need to go through their submission docs and make sure that it fulfills all requirements (I'm new to flatpak). After that it will be a question of GPG signature and making a PR to Flathub. Before the PR, it will make sense that the repo be moved under the control of SuperCollider org, yes?

[mossheim]

Before the PR, it will make sense that the repo be moved under the control of SuperCollider org, yes?

That would require someone to commit to maintaining it. Are you interested in doing that?

[smoge]

In my experience, Flatpak faces permission problems, notably with system privileges critical for audio apps or real-time scheduling with jackd. Checking AppImage as an alternative could be good, as I haven't encountered similar issues there. It's worth testing both to see which performs better.

On AppImage, visit their website.

Also, it would be even simpler to distribute it. It doesn't even need a package manager to do it.

[djiamnot]

Apologies, I got caught up in work, but in the meantime, I had a project in which I used SC on a handheld gaming console, that supports flatpak and all worked out fine for me.
So, I've cleaned up the manifest a bit and, as you can see, I submitted it to Flathub. I think I should be able to keep up with the release cycles and keep it updated.

Cheers!

[djiamnot]

In my experience, Flatpak faces permission problems, notably with system privileges critical for audio apps or real-time scheduling with jackd. Checking AppImage as an alternative could be good, as I haven't encountered similar issues there. It's worth testing both to see which performs better.

Thanks for the heads-up! I haven't had any issues in my use-case. AppImage is a good alternative, in addition to Flatpak. I might have a look in the future, but the Flatpak scratched my itch. If you have an AppImage recipe to share, I'd be curious!

Thanks!