Electron recently switched to Wayland by default on Linux, bringing dozens of popular desktop apps along with it. Here's what changed and how it affects developers and users.
Hold up. Is this the Electron that is effectively just google chrome running web apps ? I thought this was undesirable, it being bloated and slow? I’ve noticed a few server apps starting to use Electron, which seems like a bad idea. What have I missed, and why is it so important?
It certainly has it’s issues. Takes up quite a bit of space since each app tends ships its own copy of electron (though distros like Arch do try to make apps share a single Electron build). Apps may ship out of date versions that may have security vulnerabilities, though it’s not always the end of the world since they tend not to access outside of their own domains. As for slowness and resource usages, it’s bit of a tricky subject; an Electron app can be optimized, but will always use quite a bit of RAM.
Though undeniably they have been beneficial for Linux if only because it allows some companies to support Linux without too much extra work.
Hold up. Is this the Electron that is effectively just google chrome running web apps ? I thought this was undesirable, it being bloated and slow? I’ve noticed a few server apps starting to use Electron, which seems like a bad idea. What have I missed, and why is it so important?
It certainly has it’s issues. Takes up quite a bit of space since each app tends ships its own copy of electron (though distros like Arch do try to make apps share a single Electron build). Apps may ship out of date versions that may have security vulnerabilities, though it’s not always the end of the world since they tend not to access outside of their own domains. As for slowness and resource usages, it’s bit of a tricky subject; an Electron app can be optimized, but will always use quite a bit of RAM.
Though undeniably they have been beneficial for Linux if only because it allows some companies to support Linux without too much extra work.