I'm always having a love and hate relationship with flatpaks. On the one hand, they are a good way to distribute a software universally without waiting for package maintainers to work on it, and manage updates directly by the developers, on the other hand they are often not working as well as we expect them to, not well integrated, and I have so many problems that are only happening on the flatpak versions of the apps that, well, I'm starting feeling they cause more problems than they solve.
When I install ubuntu or derivatives system I like to activate flatpak and snap for users to give them access to as many apps as possible. HOWEVER, the gnome's app store (software center, softwares) always gives priority to flatpak over distribution packages, it's cool for people who want the latest version of a soft but not cool for people who like to have something THAT JUST WORKS
Small command line to restore the right priority:
gsettings set org.gnome.software packaging-format-preference "['deb', 'flatpak','snap']"
This command is valid for ubuntu, zorin, debian, and any debian or ubuntu derivative that uses the gnome software center
for other distros, put "package" or "RPM" instead of "deb"
source
https://www.reddit.com/r/openSUSE/comments/qd1gki/tumbleweed_tip_how_to_configure_gnome_software_41/
Understanding for novices:
You have several ways to distribute applications on linux, here I am talking about packages of distribution (package, deb or RPM) of flatpak and snap
distribution packages are tested and maintained by your linux system: ubuntu, debian, zorin, linux mint, manjaro, etc., which ensures that applications work well on YOUR system.
they are therefore often more reliable
However, sometimes are less up to date, may have one or two versions of delay. Most of the time, it's no big deal, usually you don't want the latest version of your application.
Sometimes too, you will want an application that has not been published by your distribution. An example for me is the Rustdesk application. In this case, I like to be able to install it in flatpak, or snap, but this is immediately a much rarer case. Flatpaks and snaps are published directly by app developers, and do not require packagers to handle them themselves.
My amendment gives priority to stability rather than novelty. If users want to privilege new things, they will still be able to do so, but that won't be the default behavior.