[DugieHowsa]

I see that from the official KODI install guide for Linux that Team Kodi PPA is no longer supported.  My questions is from a software security perspective.

There are bound to be thousands of KODI implementations that don't upgrade past Nexus out there that will no longer be receiving much needed patches.  Is the plan just to have these systems age out and eventually get decommissioned?  Or is there an effort underway to eventually get these systems upgraded?

Is the problem that the Team Kodi PPA maintainer stepped away, and there was no hand-off of admin credentials, so there is no way to utilize the existing PPA implementation?  If so, is there an effort to implement a new Team Kodi PPA, and users will just have to make a tweak to their /etc/apt/sources.list ?

[DarrenHill]

The previous maintainer decided to step away from doing so, and no-one volunteered to take over from them.
We have credentials etc, just nobody who wishes to volunteer their time to use them.

Hence the PPA was retired, with the new recommended way to install being flatpak.

[sarbes]

There are bound to be thousands of KODI implementations that don't upgrade past Nexus out there that will no longer be receiving much needed patches.  Is the plan just to have these systems age out and eventually get decommissioned?  Or is there an effort underway to eventually get these systems upgraded?

"We" don't plan anything with user devices. Everybody is free to run whatever software at whatever version. How could that be enforced?

Is the problem that the Team Kodi PPA maintainer stepped away, and there was no hand-off of admin credentials, so there is now way to utilize the existing PPA implementation?  If so, is there an effort to implement a new Team Kodi PPA, and users will just have to make a tweak to their /etc/apt/sources.list ?

We do have access to the PPA, if that's your question. It's just that nobody stepped up as a maintainer for a job that requires dozens and dozens of hours each year.

Flatpak is the way to go.

[oldtvwatcher]

Flatpak is the way to go.

I am always puzzled by some of the choices you guys make.  Ubuntu is arguably the most popular Linux distro of those who have been running Kodi on Linux for a long time, and Ubuntu doesn't support flatpak.  Yes you can install it, but now you are getting into the realm of "geeky Linux stuff" that is a step further than most USERS want to go.  And even now, if you ask someone what is the best Linux distro to use with Kodi, assuming you don't want your computer to be a single purpose device (so something like LibreELEC would not be a good candidate), it is very likely they will recommend Ubuntu (if you disagree, what distro would you recommend?).  So OF COURSE you chose flatpak.

I have also read in a couple places that flatpaks are less secure than snaps, but I could not prove that one way or the other if my life depended on it. But I am one of those still running the last available PPA version and really dread having to switch to flatpak because I am pretty sure something will break.  There may have been good reasons to move to flatpaks but it is going to take some of us a long time to adapt to the idea.

[jjd-uk]

We are not a Coporate with a strategy, we are volunteers so what is supported is purely what the volunteers are willing to work on. So currently we have someone willing to work on Flatpak, but no one interested in either continuing to support the ppa or snaps.

[sneezing_subsystem]

I have also read in a couple places that flatpaks are less secure than snaps, but I could not prove that one way or the other if my life depended on it. But I am one of those still running the last available PPA version and really dread having to switch to flatpak because I am pretty sure something will break.  There may have been good reasons to move to flatpaks but it is going to take some of us a long time to adapt to the idea.

No idea on the security, but both Snaps and Flatpaks are complete sandboxes, so in theory they are both more secure than .deb files from a repository. I've been running the Flatpak version on a KDE Neon machine for a while now as it's based on Ubuntu LTS. You may also need to install an app called Flatseal, which allows you to set Flatpak permissions on a per-app basis. You would only need to run this if you run into permission problems accessing media or drives, etc. It works fine, however your suspicion is correct that there's a slightly higher chance some add-ons will not work because the individual files that an add-on could try to call may be in a different location than what the default install would have - such is the nature of running in a sandbox. May not be an issue though, so your mileage may vary.

As an aside, maybe there needs to be a sub-thread in the Linux section just dedicated to Flatpak installs, as otherwise finding info in Linux topics specific to Flatpak installs seems to be potentially a bit hit-or-miss. 

Also worth noting that I am not an Uber geek, and I was able to build Kodi myself pretty easily on Debian 12. I did this because the version in the Debian repos (like Ubuntu) are a version behind.
Here are the instructions for Ubuntu:
Debian/Ubuntu build guide

Lots of helpful people here on the forums, should you get stuck.

[chrisc2r]

I found the move to flatpak fairly painless and straightforward.  I'd rather it was all in the standard repo, but if a flatpak is easier to maintain across multiple distros and easier to support it, then that seems reasonable enough to me.

[chrisc2r]

Sorry, pressed send too soon and don't seem to be able to edit the post...  I was going to add the only real thing to know in advance is that the location moves from ~/.kodi to  ~/.var/app/tv.kodi.Kodi

[sarbes]

I am always puzzled by some of the choices you guys make. 

I don't get how one could be puzzled about the lack of enthusiasm, for what borders to a boring and unthankful side job without pay. It seems that you don't value time as much as most of "us" do, would you like to volunteer?

Ubuntu is arguably the most popular Linux distro of those who have been running Kodi on Linux for a long time, and Ubuntu doesn't support flatpak.  Yes you can install it, but now you are getting into the realm of "geeky Linux stuff" that is a step further than most USERS want to go.

Vanilla Ubuntu is a poor choice for a media application, if you value frame rate switching, HDR10 or energy efficient playback. Setting those up is way more complicated than installing a simple Flatpak.

And even now, if you ask someone what is the best Linux distro to use with Kodi, assuming you don't want your computer to be a single purpose device (so something like LibreELEC would not be a good candidate), it is very likely they will recommend Ubuntu (if you disagree, what distro would you recommend?).  So OF COURSE you chose flatpak.

Dual boot LibreElec gives you the best of both worlds. Or even better, a dedicated device with LE. Otherwise, a distribution with X11 and ootb Flatpak support.

I have also read in a couple places that flatpaks are less secure than snaps, but I could not prove that one way or the other if my life depended on it.

That's just FUD.