One of the downsides seems like since the developer packages everything together, I’m reliant on them to push out changes. For example if some dependency needs a critical security update then I’m relying on every flatpak author to apply that change and push out a new version. But if I’m installing packages directly, I can update that one package and be done with it across my system.

Thanks for this insightful post. I agree that the fediverse feels different and that’s ok. It’s exciting to get the chance to build something new and be a part of it starting.