The news that Xubuntu will have native support for Flatpak it leads me to reiterate the question. Is it the beginning of the end for Snap packages?
I want to make it clear that no one but me is asking this question. And that's based on my impression that the number of new apps in the store is decreasing as well as updating existing ones to new versions.
As happened with Mir and Unity, other Canonical technologies that did not arouse the enthusiasm of the other open source projects, Snap is at most included as a second alternative in distributions like Manjaro or KDE Neon. Instead, there are several that give native support to Flatpak.
Xubuntu will have native support for Flatpak
As announced, the upcoming version 23.04 will have support for installing Flatpak packages from Flathub, the most popular of the repositories. Since Xubuntu uses the GNOME Software Center and it originally brings the support, the modification doesn't mean too much work for the developers.
In fact, Ubuntu Mate already added support in version 22.10.
other developments
Xubuntu hadn't yet made the switch from PulseAudio to PipeWire as a media server and it will be in the December test versions where early adopters will be able to test whether it is true that it consumes less CPU and solves Bluetooth connection problems.
You will also see changes to the default configuration package. which includes the following improvements in usability and accessibility.
- Support for other languages in the tooltip in the Whisker menu.
- Double-clicking on a deb package will open the Software Center by default.
- System tray icons will automatically adjust their size to make them consistent with the other plugins in the panel.
- The default font size of the terminal has been increased.
The file manager will have undo and redo functionality for various file operations. In addition, a button is added to the toolbar to activate split view and a new image preview side panel is introduced.
Keep in mind that still We are talking of a distribution in testing phase that It should not be installed in environments that require stability.
In my opinion diversity and competition is good. That there are several systems to choose from is a positive thing. In the end, it will be the user who decides which of them suits him best, but I particularly like that there are several package formats.