Flatseal For Linux

If you've been using Linux for quite some time, then you probably already know what Flatpak is.

In short, Flatpak is a package management platform used for distributing, installing, and managing software without you having to worry about dependencies, runtime-related aspects, or what specific Linux distribution you're running.

Even though, most of them run pretty smoothly right out of the box, what happens when and if you want to control exactly what system resources Flatpak apps use? The obvious answer is to use Flatpak commands to sort things out. The problem is, that not all users are comfortable with the command line.

That's exactly why Flatseal was created.

Flatseal is a small, open-source, yet very useful application that allows you to thoroughly manage and control Flatpak permissions at the application level.

Best of all, it doesn't require you to use the command line, instead, it provides a stylish and modern GUI to get the job done with a few mouse clicks.

All the permissions are categorized in various, self-explanatory sections such as Share, Socket, Device, Allow, Filesystem, Persistent, Environment, System Bus, Session Bus, and Portals.

Just to give you a few examples, from the Share section, you can toggle the any app's access to the network or the Internet, from the Socket section, you can allow or deny any Flatpak app to open in an X11 window, and from the Device section, you can enable or disable GPU acceleration, virtualization, and shared memory for your Flatpak apps.

Of course, there are tons more useful options, all of them nicely described in the app's official Documentation section on GitHub.

Clearly, the issue of controlling Flatpak app permissions is a very subjective manner. Even though the day-to-day user will probably never feel the need to have this sort of flexibility, Flatseal is here to provide a streamlined way of controlling Flatpak permissions.

The fact that Flatseal provides just about anyone with the ability to effortlessly change Flatpak permissions is honestly amazing, however, it's worth keeping in mind that disabling crucial permissions can have nasty results.