So true so you just need to make up your own mind based on the info available. So discussing this is a good thing
I might be old fashioned but for me I āgrewā up compiling everything on slackware I donāt need containerized apps or want it. All the software I need is already out there ready to be installed from repoās where someone else has already done the hard work.
And I have to say I am gratefull that the time spent setting up a working system as I like it has gone down from weeks to hours compared to 25 years ago EOS is up and running with my dots and configs within 30 minutes if I need to. Thanks to the people maintaining the distroās/ repoās. Thatās progress
Same here. I donāt wanna deal with steam and its dependencies, so I happily flatpak that one and a few other things such as all of my emulators and discord.
Yeah I missed that, itās late here and Iām tired. After rereading your original reply I saw what I misread before. Why do you Flatpak anything not in the repo instead of using the AUR?
If itās in the AUR it is in the (Arch User) Repo(sitory).
So, if itās not in the repos - official/AUR - Iāll flatpak it. Except Steam which I always flatpak so I just know it works together and some random update doesnātleave me w/o gaming.
Developers seem to have concerns regarding control over snaps, so that makes me hesitant. As for flatpak and appimage, only that they take up more space. So, Iāll go native where I can but, if I need the program, Iām not opposed to installing it that way.
Iāve never had an issue so far with the Steam and Lutris flatpak versions so far either.
I know I just dislike having to install 32 bit libraries on my system just for Steam and Lutris while all my other applications donāt require any 32 bit libraries.
Be interested to hear a developerās take on that. I mean, I also run Heroic Games Launcher and Lutris so, it would be more than just Steam that would need access to those libraries. So, presumably, if I went flatpak for all, Iād need multiple instances of the 32 bit libraries and Proton as well. Also, how much āclutterā are we actually talking about?
Total Download Size: 151.40 MiB
Total Installed Size: 629.36 MiB
Net Upgrade Size: 629.35 MiB
And then for Lutris these.
Thatās just for being able to run games on Steam and Lutris know that I donāt have any other packages on my system that require 32 bit libraries. So running those two as Flatpak is just an easy way not to have to install 32 bit packages on your system. It doesnāt bother everyone but it just annoys some people. Itās all about having zero 32 bit packages in your pacman package query output, I could care less about the 32 bit libraries installed within a Flatpak because that doesnāt show up on the rest of my system because itās in a container.
Considering what you wrote about the pros and cons to containerized apps. If thereās an application you need to install, and itās only available via a containerized app or NixOS package manager, which would you choose between the two, and why?
Iām not dalto, but isnāt building from source pretty much always an option. I just create a PKGBUILD for them, sometimes I even throw them up on the AUR.
I have self-taught myself a lot on Linux, except compiling applications from source. Thatās about the last thing I need to figure out. I want to learn, but it often makes my head spin and I shy away.
Iām usually not in that predicament when it comes to Arch because the AUR has pretty much got it all, but I find myself in this pickle occasionally on my Debian Sid system.
EOS is up and running with my dots and configs within 30 minutes if I need to. Thanks to the people maintaining the distroās/ repoās. Thatās progress 
