Discord, the phenomenally popular proprietary chat platform, is now verified on Flathub.
For years, a Discord Flatpak app has been available on Flathub albeit without any official association, approval, or contribution from Discord itself.
However, that’s finally changed.
Being verified on Flathub means an app is published “by its original developer or a third party approved by the developer”, according to Flathub documentation. Verified apps show a checkmark on the Flathub store page to let users know the software in question is legit.
This means users who install Discord from Flathub on Linux can be certain that the Discord app they are installing is legitimate and safe.
Flatpakvocate Ftw
Not that this verification has occurred entirely of the blue.
Cassidy James is a well-known face in open-source due to his involvement with System76, elementary OS, and now EndlessOS. In his free time he’s a Flatpak/Flathub developer advocate who reaches out to app makers to encourage them to bring their software to Flathub.
Or in the case of popular unofficial apps that are already there, like Discord (which racked up almost 3 million downloads on Flathub without being verified) learn what is needed to get them onboard and involved with maintaining their package directly.
With Discord now verified, it appears Cassidy’s groundwork is paying off big time!
Other options remain available
I don’t know Discord’s plans from here, i.e. whether it will work to ensure all of the client’s features work better with Flatpak sandbox limitations, if the Discord website will direct people to Flathub to get it, etc – but taking ownership of their Flathub listing is a positive sign.
Of course, Discord’s Linux app remains available to download from the Discord website, where it’s provided a a Deb installer for Ubuntu-based Linux distros. No sign that’s changing.
Linux users can also get Discord from Canonical’s snap store. However, it’s important to note that the Discord application in the snap store is “maintained by the Snapcrafters community” and is not officially endorsed or maintained by Discord.
Might that change soon too?
Mega thanks to Dominic ⭐️
