Flatpak 1.5.1 Prepares For Protected/Authenticated Downloads - Future App Purchasing

Flatpak 1.5.1 was released today as a new development release for this Linux application sandboxing technology. With Flatpak 1.5.1 it also begins laying the groundwork for a future payments system around Flathub as what's starting off for allowing donation-based software acquisition but could ultimately turn into a paid app store.

The noteworthy change with Flatpak 1.5.1 is introducing the notion of protected applications and authenticating downloads. These new features aren't yet stable but found in Flatpak 1.5.1 for encouraging testing / early adoption work by developers. Flatpak 1.5.1 also adds optional support for parental controls, better handling in low disk space situations, and various other changes. The parental control support is making use of the malcontent library.

On the protected applications / download authentication support, it goes with what was announced earlier this month at the Linux App Summit 2019 around the GNOME Foundation backing a "pay what you like" model for Flathub where users could donate to the software projects. The GNOME Foundation would be the legal entity behind this donation-based app store. Publishers could set suggested donation amounts and potentially a minimum donation amount in the future.

More details about Flatpak 1.5.1 on GitHub.