According to DistroWatch, 273 Linux distributions are currently active, with another 56 dormant and 521 discontinued. While some of these have shared underpinnings, it still makes for an extremely varied landscape for companies and developers.
It means developers must create multiple versions of their applications to be able to provide their software to all Linux users or just address a fraction of the market. Also, developers require multiple versions of build tools, which inevitably results in significant resource overhead.
Desktop application distribution is complex across all operating systems in general; in Linux, this is further compounded by such fragmentation and inter-dependencies both in the packaging and distribution of software.
For example, Fedora uses the RPM packaging format, while Debian uses the .deb format. Moreover, packages built for one version of a Linux distribution are often incompatible with other versions of the same distribution and need to be built for each version separately.
Developers need to satisfy all these requirements at the same time to be able to successfully offer their products to their users, which can be difficult with limited resources.
In a way, the choice of distribution and subsequent promotion of Linux software is a chicken-and-egg problem. Initially, companies and developers must decide what parts of the Linux desktop system they want to target. Then, once they have their products available to end users through one or more of the distribution channels, they still have to invest in separate efforts to promote their applications and capture usage.
Unfortunately, there is insufficient data to assist in the selection and optimization of either the distribution or the promotion process. Linux software developers generally lack sufficient immediate visibility to the usage and popularity of their software.
Traditionally, there have been multiple dimensions to how creators distribute their software: official websites, where companies and developers offer software downloads on their own domains; code repositories such as GitHub, GitLab and SourceForge; and application repositories in which Linux-based operating systems typically provide software through self-hosted storage locations.
To achieve the highest level of penetration, software developers will often distribute their applications using some or all of the above methods. Likewise, most users will utilize multiple methods to obtain software they need. While this gives developers more freedom in how they deliver applications to the end-users, it creates additional fragmentation.
In recent years, there has been significant effort to address the fragmentation in packaging and simplify the distribution of software through the establishment of software centers, in which some Linux distributions offer store-like destinations with a graphical frontend, software ratings, screenshots, descriptions and other user-focused data that allows better search and discovery.
Currently, there are three of these in the Linux space—AppImage, Flatpak and snaps. They each approach and handle the various aspects of usability in different ways.
AppImage and Flatpak technologies are architected to primarily support GUI desktop applications. Snaps are designed to work with servers, cloud infrastructure and IoT devices, in addition to desktop applications.
Spotify, a snaps publisher, is an example of a company benefiting from this approach. On one hand, it requires the Spotify engineering team to maintain both the snap and the traditional Deb package. On the other, the snap version is significantly easier to release, which has also helped with the simplification of the Deb release, as well.
The primary reason is the ability to use easy rollbacks, which have already been used. This feature removes uncertainty that a possibly broken version of the Linux desktop client application might be pushed out to the users. Spotify engineers first release the snap version, and after ascertaining that it works and behaves correctly, they build the Debian package, too. Snaps allows the Spotify team to more closely follow the weekly cadence of releases they have for the Windows and Mac versions.
The emergence of self-contained packaging and distribution mechanisms addresses a major problem in the Linux application ecosystem–the difficulty in establishing a successful business model because of the packaging and distribution challenges. The new formats reduce the fragmentation, as they minimize the number of permutations developers need to support for their applications.
The shift toward centralized application stores that are not specific to any particular Linux distribution offers higher discoverability and better consistency in the user experience.
Developers need fewer resources to support multiple target platforms, which allows them to focus their efforts on the core product, with the understanding their software will be available to the wider desktop audience, without having to depend on distribution-specific dependencies.
Since the aspects of new, refined models of promotion and distribution in Linux are still relatively young, we see improvements but there is still opportunity to develop and adopt better, data-driven practices.
As this field continues to evolve, the store model will help drive growth and usage of the Linux desktop, offering software developers a refined, more tangible experience than ever before.
