Hi, I just switched back to Linux recently, and wanted to install Steam using flatpak. I wanted to get used to the CLI again, so I opted to install it using the terminal. Upon typing flatpak install steam, I was greeted with 20 different options to install. Thinking that they were all different sources for the same application, I selected the first option as I assumed that was the default.
…and that’s how instead of Steam, I ended up with Rolisteam, an RPG application with barely any installs, no stars, and no forks on their Github page. I could have ended up with a virus for all I know.
When I ran “flatpak search steam”, there was only one app among the various listed that actually was word-for-word “steam”, so why wasn’t that the first option among the install options?
Although I was the one who ultimately pulled the trigger due to my own stupidity, the average newbie to Linux might very well have run into the same issue as I have. These issues will cause new users to install unwanted apps, causing the shadow of whether they installed a virus accidentally to linger in the back of their heads, souring the rest of their Linux experience.
The CLI version of flatpak needs to feature some version of sorting that’s either based on popularity or how closely the name matches the argument in the command, because this is a pretty major oversight to have considering how important and valuable it is. It also needs to allow users to install applications directly if the name matches 1:1, and if there are no duplicates in the options, just like how you install applications with apt on Ubuntu.
I’m really sorry if my tone came off as aggressive in this post, but what happened is legitimately making me so frustrated that I’m thinking of just deleting my Linux install and forgetting about it again.