The German Sovereign Tech Agency has awarded €508,640 through its Sovereign Tech Fund to support development of Flatpak, a containerized application distribution system for Linux desktop environments. The investment, announced by Modal, will fund a two-year initiative running through the end of 2027 to enhance Flatpak’s security and sandboxing features.
Flatpak is the primary application distribution method for image-based operating systems including Fedora Silverblue, openSUSE Aeon, SteamOS, and GNOME OS, and serves as the preferred format for major ecosystems such as GNOME, KDE, and elementary. According to the announcement, while Flatpak is described as “a mature project and the best option that exists on GNU/Linux today,” its security capabilities still lag behind well-funded proprietary platforms such as Android and iOS.
The project addresses several critical gaps. Current limitations include the inability to separate audio output from microphone access independently, and lack of dedicated Portals for networking and VPNs. Development has slowed in recent years due to the specialized expertise required and limited capacity of Flatpak maintainers, according to Modal.
The technical roadmap focuses on implementing new Portals—specialized interfaces managing app permissions—for audio, networking, VPN, writing assistance, and password auto-fill capabilities. The audio work includes implementing a new static socket permission for PipeWire and a portal allowing speaker access without granting microphone access. Network improvements will isolate networking from the host with new static permissions for specific scopes and ports. A VPN portal will be modeled after Android and iOS APIs to enable third-party VPN apps to manage system-level connections.
Additional work includes infrastructure improvements such as a new entitlements system for declaring static permissions, an intents system for apps to declare offered services, and maintenance work porting Portals to libdex and adding integration tests.
The project is led technically by Sebastian and Adrian, with organizational support from Kateryna and Cade. Para-Real Ltd. serves as the supporting organization. The team includes contractors from the 2023/2024 GNOME Sovereign Tech Fund project—Philip Withnall, Julian Sparber, and Dhanuka Warusadura—alongside Zelda Ahmed, Ignacy Kuchciński, Hari Rana, Eva of Bazaar, and designer Sam Hewitt. Modal noted the goal is to build long-term community capacity by expanding the pool of developers familiar with this work and establishing more formal project structures.
Key facts
- The German Sovereign Tech Agency invested €508,640 in Flatpak through a two-year initiative running through 2027
- Flatpak is the primary application distribution method for Fedora Silverblue, openSUSE Aeon, SteamOS, and GNOME OS
- The project will implement new Portals for audio, networking, VPN, writing assistance, and password auto-fill
- Current limitations include inability to separate audio output from microphone access independently
- The initiative is co-organized by Modal with Para-Real Ltd. as supporting organization