Installing apps via Flatpak

A very neat way to install everyday, run-of-the-mill applications on linux these days is via flatpak. Flatpak allows you to install a lot of applications that will work right out of the box with GNOME, many of which won't be available via xbps-install.

Additionally, the installed applications will be sandboxed and only minimally touch your home directory, which helps a lot in keeping the installation clean. Resetting the entire configuration for one is as easy as flatpak run <application> --reset.

Disclaimer

Not all flatpak applications are the same. Some run extremely well (Bitwig Studio is a shining example; you can't even tell the difference with its native counterpart). Others are either buggy or so severely handicapped its a hassle to use them (e.g. Visual Studio Code).

You can always check out the flatpak version of a program first before deciding if its good enough; and cleanup is easy if you uninstall it after.

Setup

To setup flatpak, simply run the following two commands:

sudo xbps-install flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Note that you may have to restart the session for flatpak to start working correctly.

The flathub is where you'll find applications to install. For example, to install Vesktop (a much better maintained alternative to Discord on linux):

flatpak install flathub dev.vencord.Vesktop

Just look at the Popular apps page of flathub and you'll see many familiar faces available to install on Linux.