Flatpak-only setup?

[teohhanhui]

Background

I'm using openSUSE MicroOS, which has an immutable root filesystem. All packages installed / updated to the base system require a system restart. Therefore, it'd be ideal to be able to install fcitx entirely through flatpak only.

Steps to reproduce

1. I've followed the instructions at https://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Install_Fcitx_5#Install_Fcitx_5_from_Flatpak

   So I've installed org.fcitx.Fcitx5 and org.fcitx.Fcitx5.Addon.ChineseAddons flatpak packages from flathub.

2. I've copied /etc/xdg/autostart/fcitx-autostart.desktop from within the org.fcitx.Fcitx5 flatpak package, to ~/.config/autostart/fcitx-autostart.desktop on the host.

   And I've modified the ~/.config/autostart/fcitx-autostart.desktop file as follows:

   Exec=flatpak run --command=fcitx-autostart org.fcitx.Fcitx5
   Icon=org.fcitx.Fcitx5
   

3. I've created the ~/.config/environment.d/envvars.conf file as follows:

   GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
   QT_IM_MODULE=fcitx
   XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx
   

4. Reboot.

Problem / questions

So far so good.

flatpak run --command=fcitx-diagnose org.fcitx.Fcitx5 output:

# System Info:
1.  `uname -a`:

        Linux envy-x360 5.12.9-1-default fcitx/flatpak-fcitx5#1 SMP Thu Jun 3 07:44:58 UTC 2021 (f17eb01) x86_64 GNU/Linux

2.  `lsb_release`:

    `lsb_release` not found.

3.  `/etc/lsb-release`:

    `/etc/lsb-release` not found.

4.  `/etc/os-release`:

        NAME="KDE Flatpak runtime"
        VERSION="5.15"
        VERSION_ID="5.15"
        ID=org.kde.Platform
        PRETTY_NAME="KDE Flatpak runtime"
        BUG_REPORT_URL=https://bugs.kde.org/

5.  Desktop Environment:

    Desktop environment is `gnome3`.

6.  Bash Version:

        BASH_VERSION='5.1.4(1)-release'

# Environment:
1.  DISPLAY:

        DISPLAY=':99.0'

2.  Keyboard Layout:

    1.  `setxkbmap`:

        `setxkbmap` not found.

    2.  `xprop`:

        `xprop` not found.

3.  Locale:

    1.  All locale:

            C
            C.utf8
            en_AG
            en_AU
            en_AU.utf8
            en_BW
            en_BW.utf8
            en_CA
            en_CA.utf8
            en_DK
            en_DK.utf8
            en_GB
            en_GB.utf8
            en_HK
            en_HK.utf8
            en_IE
            en_IE@euro
            en_IE.utf8
            en_IL
            en_IN
            en_NG
            en_NZ
            en_NZ.utf8
            en_PH
            en_PH.utf8
            en_SC.utf8
            en_SG
            en_SG.utf8
            en_US
            en_US.utf8
            en_ZA
            en_ZA.utf8
            en_ZM
            en_ZW
            en_ZW.utf8
            POSIX

    2.  Current locale:

            LANG=en_US.UTF-8
            LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
            LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_PAPER="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_NAME="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_ADDRESS="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.UTF-8"
            LC_ALL=

4.  Directories:

    1.  Home:

            /home/teohhanhui

    2.  `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}`:

        Environment variable `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is set to `/home/teohhanhui/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config`.

        Current value of `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is `~/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config` (`/home/teohhanhui/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config`).

    3.  Fcitx Settings Directory:

        Current fcitx settings directory is `~/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config/fcitx` (`/home/teohhanhui/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config/fcitx`).

5.  Current user:

    The script is run as teohhanhui (1000).

# Fcitx State:
1.  executable:

    Found fcitx at `/usr/bin/fcitx`.

2.  version:

    Fcitx version: `4.2.9.7`

3.  process:

    **Fcitx is not running.**
    **Please check the Configure link of your distribution in [Beginner's Guide](http://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Beginner%27s_Guide) for how to setup fcitx autostart.**

# Fcitx Configure UI:
1.  Config Tool Wrapper:

    Found fcitx-configtool at `/usr/bin/fcitx-configtool`.

2.  Config GUI for gtk2:

    **Config GUI for gtk2 not found.**

3.  Config GUI for gtk3:

    **Config GUI for gtk3 not found.**

4.  Config GUI for kde:

    **`kcmshell4` not found.**

    **Cannot find a GUI config tool, please install one of `kcm-fcitx`, `fcitx-config-gtk2`, or `fcitx-config-gtk3`.**

# Frontends setup:
## Xim:
1.  `${XMODIFIERS}`:

    Environment variable XMODIFIERS is set to "@im=fcitx" correctly.
    Xim Server Name from Environment variable is fcitx.

2.  XIM_SERVERS on root window:

    **`xprop` not found.**

## Qt:
1.  qt4 - `${QT4_IM_MODULE}`:

    Environment variable QT_IM_MODULE is set to "fcitx" correctly.

2.  qt5 - `${QT_IM_MODULE}`:

    Environment variable QT_IM_MODULE is set to "fcitx" correctly.

3.  Qt IM module files:

    Found unknown fcitx qt module: `/app/lib/fcitx5/qt5/libfcitx-quickphrase-editor5.so`.
    **Cannot find fcitx input method module for Qt4.**
    **Cannot find fcitx input method module for Qt5.**

## Gtk:
1.  gtk - `${GTK_IM_MODULE}`:

    Environment variable GTK_IM_MODULE is set to "fcitx" correctly.

2.  `gtk-query-immodules`:

    1.  gtk 2:

        **Cannot find `gtk-query-immodules` for gtk 2**

        **Cannot find fcitx im module for gtk 2.**

    2.  gtk 3:

        Found `gtk-query-immodules` for gtk `3.24.21` at `/usr/bin/gtk-query-immodules-3.0`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by /usr/bin/gtk-query-immodules-3.0 from gtk+-3.24.21

        Found fcitx im modules for gtk `3.24.21`.

            "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules/im-fcitx.so" 
            "fcitx" "Fcitx (Flexible Input Method Framework)" "fcitx" "/usr/share/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 

3.  Gtk IM module cache:

    1.  gtk 2:

        **Cannot find immodules cache for gtk 2**

        **Cannot find fcitx im module for gtk 2 in cache.**

    2.  gtk 3:

        Found immodules cache for gtk `3.24.21` at `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules.cache`.
        Version Line:

            # Created by gtk-query-immodules-3.0 from gtk+-3.24.21

        Found fcitx im modules for gtk `3.24.21`.

            "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gtk-3.0/3.0.0/immodules/im-fcitx.so" 
            "fcitx" "Fcitx (Flexible Input Method Framework)" "fcitx" "/usr/share/locale" "ja:ko:zh:*" 

4.  Gtk IM module files:

    1.  gtk 2:

        All found Gtk 2 immodule files exist.

    2.  gtk 3:

        All found Gtk 3 immodule files exist.

# Configuration:
## Fcitx Addons:
1.  Addon Config Dir:

    Found fcitx addon config directory: `/usr/share/fcitx/addon`.

2.  Addon List:

    1.  Found 16 enabled addons:

            fcitx-autoeng
            fcitx-chttrans
            fcitx-clipboard
            fcitx-dbus
            fcitx-freedesktop-notify
            fcitx-fullwidth-char
            fcitx-imselector
            fcitx-ipc
            fcitx-ipcportal
            fcitx-keyboard
            fcitx-kimpanel-ui
            fcitx-notificationitem
            fcitx-punc
            fcitx-quickphrase
            fcitx-remote
            fcitx-unicode

    2.  Found 1 disabled addons:

            fcitx-qw

3.  Addon Libraries:

    All libraries for all addons are found.

4.  User Interface:

    Found 1 enabled user interface addons:

        fcitx-kimpanel-ui

    **Cannot find kimpanel dbus interface or enabled non-kimpanel user interface.**

## Input Methods:
1.  Found 1 enabled input methods:

        fcitx-keyboard-us

2.  Default input methods:

    You only have one keyboard input method enabled. You may want to add another input method to input other languages.

# Log:
1.  `date`:

        Tue 08 Jun 2021 09:10:40 PM +08

2.  `~/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config/fcitx/log/`:

        total 0

3.  `~/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config/fcitx/log/crash.log`:

    `~/.var/app/org.fcitx.Fcitx5/config/fcitx/log/crash.log` not found.

It doesn't use ~/.config/fcitx and ~/.config/fcitx5 for some reason. Passing --env=XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/.config doesn't seem to do anything, maybe due to flathub/io.neovim.nvim#2 (comment)

And it's not able to detect the running fcitx process, but the process seems to be running just fine.

sudo journalctl -b | grep -i fcitx output:

Jun 08 20:45:33 envy-x360 dbus-daemon[2016]: [session uid=1000 pid=2016] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Flatpak' unit='flatpak-session-helper.service' requested by ':1.53' (uid=1000 pid=2332 comm="flatpak run --command=fcitx-autostart org.fcitx.Fc")
Jun 08 20:45:34 envy-x360 dbus-daemon[2016]: [session uid=1000 pid=2016] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.portal.Documents' unit='xdg-document-portal.service' requested by ':1.53' (uid=1000 pid=2332 comm="flatpak run --command=fcitx-autostart org.fcitx.Fc")
Jun 08 20:45:34 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-2332.scope.
Jun 08 20:45:34 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-gnome-fcitx\x2dautostart-2332.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2412]: Fcitx seems is not running
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-autoeng.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-chttrans.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-clipboard.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-dbus.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-freedesktop-notify.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-fullwidth-char.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-imselector.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-ipc.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-ipcportal.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-keyboard.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-kimpanel-ui.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-notificationitem.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-punc.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-quickphrase.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-qw.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-remote-module.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2554]: (INFO-7 addon.c:151) Load Addon Config File:fcitx-unicode.conf
Jun 08 20:45:36 envy-x360 fcitx-autostart.desktop[2555]: sh: line 1: dbus-launch: command not found
Jun 08 20:46:33 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-2874.scope.
Jun 08 20:46:35 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-2874.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 20:46:35 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-2874.scope: Consumed 2.490s CPU time.
Jun 08 21:10:38 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-7100.scope.
Jun 08 21:10:40 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-7100.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 21:10:40 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-7100.scope: Consumed 2.443s CPU time.
Jun 08 21:18:14 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-8944.scope.
Jun 08 21:18:16 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-8944.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 21:18:16 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-8944.scope: Consumed 2.698s CPU time.
Jun 08 21:18:49 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-10578.scope.
Jun 08 21:18:50 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-10578.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 21:19:17 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-11081.scope.
Jun 08 21:19:19 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-11081.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 21:19:19 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-11081.scope: Consumed 2.509s CPU time.
Jun 08 21:19:34 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: Started app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-12708.scope.
Jun 08 21:19:36 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-12708.scope: Succeeded.
Jun 08 21:19:36 envy-x360 systemd[1998]: app-flatpak-org.fcitx.Fcitx5-12708.scope: Consumed 2.513s CPU time.
Jun 08 21:20:00 envy-x360 polkitd[1017]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-process:14350:209116 (system bus name :1.117 [flatpak info -M org.fcitx.Fcitx5], object path /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)

So now the main problem is I don't have access to fcitx-config-gtk3. Perhaps I can try installing it in my toolbox (https://github.com/kubic-project/microos-toolbox), but it'd be nice to have it as a flatpak package.

Also, is this kind of setup supported? I saw #108 (comment) where you've mentioned this so I guess it's a yes?

Use flatpak fcitx + flatpak fcitx engine + flatpak/host app is possible.

[teohhanhui]

If I run fcitx-diagnose from within the toolbox container, it's able to detect the running process.

So I guess it's due to sandbox limitation that fcitx-diagnose is not working from within the flatpak.

[teohhanhui]

I think I've realized my mistake. The correct thing to do is:

ln -s ~/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/org.fcitx.Fcitx5.desktop ~/.config/autostart/org.fcitx.Fcitx5.desktop

[teohhanhui]

Now there's only one thing which is still not working. fcitx IME doesn't work in host apps.

[wengxt]

You still need some im module on your host (not possible to be provided by flatpak).

You can use either: xim (which could be buggy), fcitx 4, fcitx5, or even ibus. I suggest fcitx4 one if fcitx5 is not available by your distro.

https://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Install_Fcitx_5#Install_Fcitx_5_from_Flatpak
https://fcitx-im.org/wiki/Input_method_related_environment_variables

[teohhanhui]

Right. In my case I think it's not worth it. I'll just live with not being able to use fcitx in host apps. There are only very few of them on MicroOS Desktop anyway.

[AClon314]

Solution: install IME on host

sudo dnf install fcitx5 -y
flatpak install org.fcitx.Fcitx5 org.fcitx.Fcitx5.Addon.Rime # you can install addon if you want

sorry, when the old version broke up I realize that maybe a wrong solution :(

---

old version:
give fcitx5(Flatpak) permission in Flatseal: socket=system-bus on.

or bash version:

flatpak install flathub org.fcitx.Fcitx5 org.fcitx.Fcitx5.Addon.Rime # you can install addon if you want
flatpak --user override --socket=system-bus org.fcitx.Fcitx5

Now you can use fcitx5 on host's application! (need to restart fcitx5(Flatpak) and host's application)

reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/flatpak/comments/t9hetq/how_do_i_remove_the_container_feature_from/

[teohhanhui]

You can get more granular with --system-own-name=... and --system-talk-name=... (repeat for all the service names it needs to talk to). No need to give unrestricted access to the system bus.

https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/flatpak-command-reference.html

[wengxt]

In terms of generally available by default without install new package (my guessing),

Use following values might work, you can also play with other values.

XMODIFIERS=@im=fcitx # For x11
GTK_IM_MODULE=xim # For Gtk
QT4_IM_MODULE=xim # For Qt4
QT_IM_MODULE=ibus # For Qt5+

Also, there's no "fcitx-autostart" in fcitx5, nor "fcitx-diagnose". There's only "fcitx5-diagnose".

Also there's no fcitx-config-gtk3 for fcitx5 and org.fcitx.Fcitx5 already bundles the fcitx5-configtool within it, you can access it easily via the fcitx tray icon.