@Bitrot@linux interesting, thank you for that information: I had been under the impression they did do manual verification of authors.
I did some checking: the closest I found to verification was this (so you're right- no need to be the original author, but a bit of vetting does seem involved).
@pastermil@linux the attack surface for something that isn't officially maintained by the developers, and that doesn't have more vetting (e.g. distribution packages) opens up room for malicious actors.
e.g. #arch / #aur recommends verifying scripts manually before installing, and malicious scripts have been found and removed.
There are actors like #jiatan out there. An unofficial #flatpak needs manual verification before install - that's why I just go with #snap if the flatpak isn't official
@pastermil@linux I use both. There are packages where the website officially lists snap packages, no flatpaks.
Unless the project website has a link/install instruction recommending flatpak, I prefer either the distribution package where available, or snap otherwise - this is more from a supply-chain perspective - since snap requires the original developers of the package to package snaps.
If the developers have officially listed flatpak on their site, that however, is good enough for me.
Even better - you can see the whole thread from both #lemmy and from #Mastodon . However, you only see the conversation, not upvotes/downvotes in mastodon, while you see votes too in Lemmy.
Edit: I tried to not tag @firefox this time to see if my reply showed up on Lemmy. It didn't.
Tagging so the Lemmy thread also shows the reply and pictures.
Edit++: so retroactive tagging doesn't work ☹️...nvm, it just took a bit of time to update!
@Bitrot @linux interesting, thank you for that information: I had been under the impression they did do manual verification of authors.
I did some checking: the closest I found to verification was this (so you're right- no need to be the original author, but a bit of vetting does seem involved).
https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/manual-review-of-all-new-snap-name-registrations/39440
My takeaway here is to use whatever the software authors recommend ( on their website.. assuming trusted authors)!