{"slug": "flatseal", "name": "Flatseal", "category": "security", "category_name": "Security and passwords", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.03, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-08-30", "why": "With Flatseal you can view and manage application-system permissions with a level of granularity I have not seen in other systems.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "With Flatseal you can view and manage application-system permissions with a level of granularity I have not seen in other systems.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "flathub.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://github.com/tchx84/Flatseal", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Flatseal"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 792025377, "item_id": 49501586, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49501586", "by": "silver_sun", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Flatseal to verify the permissions", "excerpt": "Flatpak uses Portals to let the user grant access to different files/directories, apparently they don't have access by default: https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html I was also unable to find any Flatpak that has access to the home directory when installed, you may well be right but I couldn't find any. I used Flatseal to verify the permissions: https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.github.tchx84.Flat", "context": "", "use_case": "checking Flatpak permissions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root"}, {"id": 770426052, "item_id": 48151628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48151628", "by": "Micrococonut", "date": "2026-05-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Flatseal you can view and manage application-system permissions with a level of granularity I have not seen in other systems.", "excerpt": "I switched to bazzite-dx for my personal computer ~6 months ago. i7-13700K / 5070 Ti / 32GB DDR4 / 5120x1440 240Hz HDR It's been perfect for me. The included Bazaar app store is very impressive compared to something like the apple app store. It reignited the lost joy of opening up the app store to find something new and interesting. A wonderful contrast to current meta of app stores just being a front to push expensi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows"}, {"id": 747895315, "item_id": 46743457, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46743457", "by": "MiddleEndian", "date": "2026-01-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You also get an Android-style permission system with Flatseal", "excerpt": "Bazzite. It's KDE, it's easy, it's immutable so you can update and it's unlikely to break shit. It comes with Steam already. Keyboard shortcuts very similar to Windows. Dolphin (File Explorer equivalent) responds as quickly as one would expect File Explorer to respond if it were developed by sane people. You also get an Android-style permission system with Flatseal, so you can disable permissions for various applicat", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops"}, {"id": 743543090, "item_id": 46471443, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471443", "by": "Alupis", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions.", "excerpt": "GUI apps often come in Flatpak[1] these days - which are sandboxed[2] like you are expecting. Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps, but many distros also have their own app store too. Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions. You can also manage them via cli if you prefer. For CLI apps, you can use distrobox[5] or toolbx[6]. [1] https://flatpak.org/ [2] https://docs.flatpak.o", "context": "", "use_case": "managing app permissions", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["checking flatpak permissions", "managing app permissions"], "compared": [{"slug": "flatpak", "name": "Flatpak", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "fedora", "name": "Fedora", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "bazzite", "name": "Bazzite", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "kde-plasma", "name": "KDE Plasma", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49499854", "title": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150414", "title": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46963250", "title": "Show HN: CSL-Core \u2013 Formally Verified Neuro-Symbolic Safety Engine for AI", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46735545", "title": "Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699507", "title": "Ask HN: Is Linux Safe to Daily drive in 2026?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471199", "title": "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 792025377, "item_id": 49501586, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49501586", "by": "silver_sun", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Flatseal to verify the permissions", "excerpt": "Flatpak uses Portals to let the user grant access to different files/directories, apparently they don't have access by default: https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/sandbox-permissions.html I was also unable to find any Flatpak that has access to the home directory when installed, you may well be right but I couldn't find any. I used Flatseal to verify the permissions: https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.github.tchx84.Flat", "context": "", "use_case": "checking Flatpak permissions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root"}, {"id": 770426052, "item_id": 48151628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48151628", "by": "Micrococonut", "date": "2026-05-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Flatseal you can view and manage application-system permissions with a level of granularity I have not seen in other systems.", "excerpt": "I switched to bazzite-dx for my personal computer ~6 months ago. i7-13700K / 5070 Ti / 32GB DDR4 / 5120x1440 240Hz HDR It's been perfect for me. The included Bazaar app store is very impressive compared to something like the apple app store. It reignited the lost joy of opening up the app store to find something new and interesting. A wonderful contrast to current meta of app stores just being a front to push expensi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows"}, {"id": 753104384, "item_id": 47069024, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47069024", "by": "westurner", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Flatseal is one way to change the permissions granted to a flatpak", "excerpt": "Flatpak manifests include a list of ACLs per app. Flatseal is one way to change the permissions granted to a flatpak. Restarting an app is required for permissions changes to take effect. Audit2allow and desbma/shh can generate policies. systrack, list-syscalls.rb, \"B-Side: Binary-Level Static System Call Identification\"; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726677 /? which linux lsm's allow online policy changes: ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: CSL-Core \u2013 Formally Verified Neuro-Symbolic Safety Engine for AI"}, {"id": 747895315, "item_id": 46743457, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46743457", "by": "MiddleEndian", "date": "2026-01-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You also get an Android-style permission system with Flatseal", "excerpt": "Bazzite. It's KDE, it's easy, it's immutable so you can update and it's unlikely to break shit. It comes with Steam already. Keyboard shortcuts very similar to Windows. Dolphin (File Explorer equivalent) responds as quickly as one would expect File Explorer to respond if it were developed by sane people. You also get an Android-style permission system with Flatseal, so you can disable permissions for various applicat", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops"}, {"id": 747196883, "item_id": 46699805, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699805", "by": "m132", "date": "2026-01-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "There's also Flatseal, a GUI alternative which I personally haven't tried.", "excerpt": "Linux out of all those three is very specific in that it can be configured to be perfectly secure and, at the same time, if you explicitly ask it to shoot you in the foot, it will. Generally the out-of-the-box experience of Ubuntu and Fedora is at least as secure or better than that of Windows. macOS tends to lean towards a more hardened configuration. Matching that is possible (Android being a great example), but wi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is Linux Safe to Daily drive in 2026?"}, {"id": 743543090, "item_id": 46471443, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46471443", "by": "Alupis", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions.", "excerpt": "GUI apps often come in Flatpak[1] these days - which are sandboxed[2] like you are expecting. Flathub[3] is the primary place to get GUI apps, but many distros also have their own app store too. Flatseal[4] is a GUI that allows you to mange the sandboxes/permissions. You can also manage them via cli if you prefer. For CLI apps, you can use distrobox[5] or toolbx[6]. [1] https://flatpak.org/ [2] https://docs.flatpak.o", "context": "", "use_case": "managing app permissions", "switched_from": "", "story": "2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop"}]}