Install Zoom. FlatPak_System Package_ Download from the website(Terminology please)

[Sherri is a Cat]

I need Zoom.

I installed it yesterday from the Software Manager. After looking at the reviews, I uninstalled it. It looks pretty unreliable. I looked around the internet to figure out what I should do. I came across a few things and now I have a few questions.

FOSS said that FlatPak apps run in a sandbox so they are more secure, but some Linux OS's need a support package for FlatPaks (Debian based?). I think someone would have told me if this is true in Linux, but I'm not sure. If I do need one, maybe that's why the FlatPak app has poor ratings.

And then the System Packages. I noticed that at least one app is available as a FlatPak and a system package. If Linux doesn't need a support package for FlatPaks do I need the system package, does it make any difference or which one should I install?

Finally, is there any difference between a FlatPak/System Package and downloading and installing Zoom for Linux from the website.
Oh.. One more.
How do you refer to an app that is downloaded from somewhere other than the software manager or that other place I keep hearing about (I'm sorry I can't remember the name. Alternative to?)

 

[Condobloke]

I know zero about zoom. I have used it a couple of times.....each time I have downloaded from the repository.

It worked.

I pay very little attention to reviews in there.....sometimes they are worth a damn....sometimes not.

If I install it and it fails to function....that will be the last time I download it.....I purge whatever remains from my system....and keep a note to that effect

When I see significant numbers "giving the tick" to an app......only then will I pay attention

Otherwise...I will download it....try it....and if it fails me...it gets the flick

 

[Condobloke]

Just a thought....sometimes the place/people you are "zooming" with will supply a download link. That usually works well.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Finally, is there any difference between a FlatPak/System Package and downloading and installing Zoom for Linux from the website.

Yes.

The Flatpak version available to your 'Victoria' is 5.17.5, the version at the website is 5.17.11, slighter newer. Don't ask me what changes have been made, lol.

If you want the website one, you would first have to remove the Flatpak one, likely with

sudo flatpak uninstall zoom

or similar

OR

Use the Timeshift snapshot you took before installing a package outside of your distro's repositories, to restore to an earlier point in time.

To install the .deb file for Zoom available at their website, you could use the following:

BTW GDebi, referenced there, is already installed on your 'Victoria'.

Select Linux Mint and click Download button, once the download is complete, find it in your File Manager (Nemo), right click the package and choose to open GDebi. Follow the prompts from there.

In my 'Victoria', their Download button failed me in my Firefox 3 times, so I did the following:

1. Right clicked the Download button and chose Copy Link
2. Opened a Terminal and type in

wget

and followed with a space and then used Ctrl-Shift-v to paste the rest, that is

wget https://zoom.us/client/5.17.11.3835/zoom_amd64.deb

3. Exited Terminal, went in to Nemo and used GDebi from there.

You could complete the exercise from Terminal, if you wish, we can give you instructions.

I took the finished installed package and set up an account, but have not proceeded there as I had no-one to Zoom with.

Poor poor pitiful Wizard, lol

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

How do you refer to an app that is downloaded from somewhere other than the software manager or that other place I keep hearing about (I'm sorry I can't remember the name. Alternative to?)

Yes, it is AlternativeTo.

... 3rd Part software is as good as any.

Wiz

 

[Sherri is a Cat]

Yes.

The Flatpak version available to your 'Victoria' is 5.17.5, the version at the website is 5.17.11, slighter newer. Don't ask me what changes have been made, lol.

If you want the website one, you would first have to remove the Flatpak one, likely with

sudo flatpak uninstall zoom

or similar

OR

Use the Timeshift snapshot you took before installing a package outside of your distro's repositories, to restore to an earlier point in time.

To install the .deb file for Zoom available at their website, you could use the following:

BTW GDebi, referenced there, is already installed on your 'Victoria'.

Select Linux Mint and click Download button, once the download is complete, find it in your File Manager (Nemo), right click the package and choose to open GDebi. Follow the prompts from there.

In my 'Victoria', their Download button failed me in my Firefox 3 times, so I did the following:

1. Right clicked the Download button and chose Copy Link
2. Opened a Terminal and type in

wget

and followed with a space and then used Ctrl-Shift-v to paste the rest, that is

wget https://zoom.us/client/5.17.11.3835/zoom_amd64.deb

3. Exited Terminal, went in to Nemo and used GDebi from there.

You could complete the exercise from Terminal, if you wish, we can give you instructions.

I took the finished installed package and set up an account, but have not proceeded there as I had no-one to Zoom with.

Poor poor pitiful Wizard, lol

Cheers

I will do this tomorrow. Zoom meetings are a routine thing for me. They keep me sane and the world a safer place for mankind at large.

 

[kc1di]

I always install zoom but using deb-get it will install the latest version and keep it updated. Never had a problem that way.
you can find out about deb-get from here.

Deb Get is like 'apt-get' for 3rd-Party Ubuntu Apps

All fo your favourite extra-repo Ubuntu apps are now a single command away. Deb-Get is a tool that installs deb files from website from the command line.

www.omgubuntu.co.uk

 

[MikeWalsh]

I will use Zoom on occasion - I built a 'portable' version of this back near the start of the Covid pandemic, when it seemed everybody was wanting it & the 'PuppyPortableApps' system was beginning to take shape.

Up till around 18 months or so ago it wasn't too heavy; around the 220MB mark. Then for some unknown reason, Zoom Inc. took it into their heads to add the Electron framework into the mix (this adds a stripped-back Chromium browser to what was already a 'chunky' app).

Installed, it now occupies around half-a-gig..!

I only use it if I have to......like with Skype users on Windows who refuse to even consider trying another of the many (often better) alternatives out there. Personally, I prefer Jitsi 'Meet' or Google 'Meet'; I've had an a/c with Big Brother so long I just don't care what data they have on me any longer.

It is possible to use the on-line version of Zoom if you don't want to install it, though it's not as responsive as the desktop client and CAN be quite 'laggy'...

Just my two-penn'orth, FWIW.


Mike.