The type of next-generation package—which we should stop calling that at some point—that has come out on top is Flatpak. Snap packages add extra security that makes them perform worse, and AppImage packages, which are much older, didn't really get into the game due to a lack of promotion. In all three cases, we're talking about packages that include software and dependencies within themselves and are compatible with most Linux distributions. But in Flatub We see a jumble of dates that may confuse us.
As a Linux blog editor, I occasionally check Flathub for updates. I could do the same on Snapcraft, but Canonical's store website isn't as well organized by section and lacks updates and new releases sections. Sometimes, an updated program appears with a changelog. It mentions a version that has been available for months.It says it was released months ago and compiled days ago. What happens in these cases?
Flathub and the flatpaks that are updated more
The key here lies in the dependencies. The screenshot is from the player. MPVincreasingly popular among Linux users. As you can see, version 0.40.0 is 8 months old, but the Flatpak package was uploaded to Flathub 5 days ago. This is a huge difference that cannot be explained by changes in the main software, but rather by dependencies.
No information is given, but there must be a dependency change that the developer has decided to implement and re-upload the package. For example, they might have decided to add version 1 of August FFmpegAlthough too much time has passed to think he's responsible. What is certain is that there has been some change, and Nothing new in MPV since MarchThere is another dependency that has led to the repackaging of a version of the player that is not so recent.
This can also happen with snap packages and AppImages. You can leave a version as it was originally released, but anyone wanting to keep things up-to-date should update the packages when a major dependency is updated. And that explains this fluctuating release date.