#150 Flathub spike: Carrier on Flatpak against shared WebKitGTK runtime

[Anonymous]

Originally created by: kristofferR

Split out from [#126] (AUR shipped in [#149]; Flathub deferred).

Flathub is the other place Linux users actually look, and it directly serves the "small by design" pitch: instead of the ~90 MB AppImage that bundles WebKitGTK, a Flatpak builds against a shared runtime and ships as a few MB.

Why this is a spike, not a commitment: Tauri-on-Flatpak has WebKitGTK runtime-version friction — the GNOME/Freedesktop runtime WebKitGTK can lag or drift from what Tauri expects, which has historically caused rendering/crash issues. Needs investigation before we promise anything.

Scope of the spike

• [ ] Build a working Flatpak manifest for Carrier against a current Freedesktop/GNOME runtime.
• [ ] Confirm the WebKitGTK version in the runtime is new enough for the Messenger webview + our injected scripts.
• [ ] Verify size win vs. AppImage is real (target: single-digit MB against shared runtime).
• [ ] Check notifications, downloads, tray, and off-site navigation still work inside the Flatpak sandbox (portal permissions).
• [ ] Decide: pursue Flathub submission, or document why it is not worth it.

Ref [#135] (parent epic), [#126] (AUR done).

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: kristofferR

The Flatpak spike was completed and merged in [#195]: Carrier builds from source against the GNOME 50 runtime, gates host-owned updater and autostart behavior in the sandbox, passes metadata validation, and was clean-built, exported, and launched. The documented decision is to pursue Flathub. Closing as complete.

[Anonymous]

Ticket changed by: kristofferR

• status: open --> closed