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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I have a question about flatpak (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 week ago by BobGnarley@lemm.ee to c/linux@lemmy.ml

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I see that it can be slower because of having all the dependencies included with the flatpak itself instead of relying solely on whats installed on the system. I read that this means it isolates or sandboxes itself from the rest of the system.

Does this not mean that it can't infect the rest of the system even if it had malware?

I have seen people say that it isnt good for security because sometimes they force you to use a specific version of certain dependencies that often times are outdated but I'm wondering why that would matter if it was truly sandboxed and isolated.

Do they mean that installing flatpak itself is a security risk or that also specific flatpaks can be security risks themselves?

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[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The sandboxing isn't as much as, say, Docker containers. So I think access to memory and devices is still possible and can eventually get you access to the whole system. I would think.

And this isn't limited to flatpaks but I would assume Snaps as well, which some software is now delivered in that format by Canonical, even for server software.

That's interesting. I'll have to look deeper into that

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

Docker is actually less secure from a sandboxing perspective as the docker daemon runs as root.

It would make more sense to compare to raw bubblewrap or podman.