Linux software manager Bazaar has a big new feature
You can now manage your remote Flatpak repositories inside of Bazaar.
Developers of Bazaar, a Flatpak software manager for Linux, announced this week the release of Bazaar 0.10.0, which comes with features for managing remote repositories. A few other small changes are here, too.
Custom remote repositories are here
When you update Bazaar to version 0.10, the biggest difference you'll find is in your hamburger menu: the ability to manage remote repositories.
On Linux computers, if you want to install a piece of software packaged as a Flatpak that isn't hosted on Flathub (the standard, central repository of software that Bazaar and most other software managers default to for Flatpaks), then you have to manually add it as a "remote" to the Flatpak tool. You open a terminal and run a flatpak remote-add commands to get a remote repository added, then you can install Flatpaks from that location.
Bazaar, an app store designed for GNOME desktops and for Flatpak software in particular, now shows apps from those remotes. You also now have the option to review and delete remotes in the Bazaar app.
The ability to actually add remotes using Bazaar itself appears to not be here yet, but a work item on GitLab indicates that is part of the vision. So, we can likely expect remote installation options in a future Bazaar update.
- This update also brought with it faster searches and "typo tolerance," meaning you don't have to precisely know how an app's name is spelled in order to find it. Download statistics have also been redesigned, and Bazaar is now able to display app descriptions in regional languages.
Zooming out
Why this announcement matters: Bazaar is relatively new to the scene, and became an official GNOME Circle app in August, and it's the default app store on the popular gaming Linux distro, Bazzite. It's development will impact a lot of users, especially as the Flatpak format becomes more widespread across distros.
Jordan Gloor
My take: While it I find the Flatpak-only limitation annoying in comparison to KDE Discover and Shelly's multi-format management capabilities, I do like the look and feel of Bazaar. Being able to manage remotes is important if you're looking for rare and obscure software, so I'm glad to see this development.
Diving in
Go further: You can read the Bazaar 0.10.0 release notes on GitLab for more details.
Get it now: If you use Bazaar on your PC, you should see the update to version 0.10 very soon. If don't have Bazaar and want to try it out, you can find it on Flathub.
