Flatpak/snap compatibility

[TheOPtimal]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The current installer doesn't work in Flatpak.

Describe the solution you'd like
Add flatpak support. You might want to look into the code of betterdiscordctl to see how that would be done.

Describe alternatives you've considered
I've tried changing the discord path to ~/.var/app/com.discordapp.Discord/config/discord, but Discord just spit out a "fatal javascript error".

[ObserverOfTime]

Honestly, supporting flatpak and snap in betterdiscordctl has been a PITA…

[ObserverOfTime]

This function should be able to find the paths for both flatpak and snap but I haven't tested it:

const {execSync} = require("child_process");

const getLinuxBasedir = function(channel) {
    if (channel == "flatpak") {
        const output = execSync("flatpak run --command=sh com.discordapp.Discord -c 'printf -- \"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME\"'");
        return path.join(output.toString(), "discord");
    }
    if (channel == "snap") {
        const output = execSync("echo 'printf -- \"$SNAP_USER_DATA\"' | snap run --shell discord");
        return path.join(output.toString(), ".config", "discord");
    }
    return path.join(remote.app.getPath("userData"), "..", channel.toLowerCase().replace(" ", ""))
}

It's up to you on how (and if) you will adapt the installer accordingly.

[zerebos]

Yeah I'm not sure yet about snap and flatpak support. It would also require a corresponding change in BD (at least for snap).

[ObserverOfTime]

Flatpak is also sandboxed so I assume it would require the same change.

[TheOPtimal]

Also, don't forget Nix.

[ObserverOfTime]

Nix seems to work fine: NixOS/nixpkgs#118471

[TheOPtimal]

Good. Unfortunately, I have left discord (because it's garbage) so farewell, I won't be able to test it.

[guihkx]

I was interested in this feature myself, so I made this half-assed build with Flatpak compatibility. It seems to work, though. :)

Here's how:

1. Download the pre-compiled AppImage from here (alternatively, you can build it yourself from the flatpak-dev branch).
2. Give the AppImage execute permission (if you don't know how, Google it)
3. Run the AppImage
4. Follow the installer instructions

I've tested the install/repair/remove features and all of them work.

I don't plan on upstreaming that garbage masterpiece, but if someone else wants to, be my guest. However, I do plan to keep the code in sync with upstream (unless Flatpak support is added to the official installer, of course).

[TheOPtimal]

About that fork, maybe flatpak option could be automatically applied when ~/.var/app/com.discordapp.Discord/ is detected?

[ObserverOfTime]

Or automatically applied anyway since it's a fork made specifically for flatpak…

[guihkx]

Thanks for the suggestions! It does make sense to make Flatpak the default one, so I did just that.

I've updated the AppImage and instructions as well.

if it ever gets installable on the normal installer put some more focus on flatpak. snap has security issues and flatpak has more priority on non canonical distros