I spent a lot of time to look after the dependencies that flatpak Gramps 6.0.1 on linux mint 22.1 would need for the spell check. But spell check stayed greyed out. I would like to know for sure that spell check can work on the flatpak version. Who can help?
Spellcheck got temporarily disabled in April of this year with the 6.0.1-1 flatpak due to gspell triggering a segmentation fault in Gramps when spellcheck was enabled in preferences and someone used a notes tool. I just commented out the gspell dependency for spell check (lines 72-79 at org.gramps_project.Gramps/org.gramps_project.Gramps.yml at master · flathub/org.gramps_project.Gramps · GitHub ) until the bug fix comes out in Gramps 6.0.2. We discussed the bug at mantis in the following bug report: https://gramps-project.org/bugs/view.php?id=13795 I confirmed that a flatpak with the bug fix is stable, so spell check should be available again in the Gramps 6.0.2 flatpak.
-The Gramps flatpak at Flathub normally supports all default features of Gramps, except at the moment spell check until a bug fix in Gramps 6.0.2. However, Fedora makes its own flatpak for Gramps with a different set of dependencies.-
I am unaware of any missing dependencies for the default installation of the Gramps flatpak from Flathub. Just as with an install from a repository, if a dependency does not get installed with Gramps using apt or dnf from the repository then certain features will not work (unless the dependency got installed for another app). Likewise, I believe all necessary dependencies for the Gramps flatpak from Flathub get installed with either the runtimes, the Gnome localizations, and Gramps itself. I keep mentioning the flatpak from Flathub, because Fedora makes its own flatpaks based on the rpm files from what I could figure out, and I only work on the Flathub version of Gramps. (Edit–>) As of today, 15 June 2025, the Gramps flatpak generated by Fedora for Fedora 42 has a different group of dependencies for Gramps than the Gramps flatpak from Flathub, which affects which features and add-ons work or not. For example, a couple of their dependencies are not right for Gramps 6.0.1 and the current python, like GTKSpell and pybsddb3. If I get around to making a Fedora account, I will try to remember to notify them.
-Localizations on the Gramps Flatpak. I don’t know personally how well they work for other languages, but here is how they work.-
As for localizations, the flatpak selects localizations to install based on the user’s system settings. So if a localization is missing from a flatpak, it could be the user’s system not being set up the way flatpak is programmed to check, or the Runtimes not being set up correctly, or perhaps Flathub’s implementation of providing localizations. (Edit and request for feedback) If a localization does not work correctly on the Gramps flatpak on Fedora for anyone, please verify whether you have the flatpak from Fedora or Flathub since both are available on Fedora. Then try the other Gramps flatpak to see if one works better than the other and let us know. Then at that point I could go to the Flathub discourse and see if there is a solution.
-As for whether an add-on works for the Gramps flatpak at Flathub, some work and some don’t. The explanation is below.-
Some of the required dependencies are missing for some add-ons. In addition to dependencies for features I use like maps and (usually) spell check, I also included dependencies for add-ons like exiv metadata, some charts like GraphView (coincidentally the FamilyTreeView beta currently works too), etc. Basically the add-ons I like are supported, but any attempt to support all available add-ons are impractical for the flatpak due to both size, manually checking for updates for all dependencies, and troubleshooting failures in compiling updates due to all the different changes in different projects. If anyone wants to request another dependency be added, like Weblate for providing translations, they are welcome to request it at the gramps-project github for the flatpak at GitHub · Where software is built or at the gramps project’s Mantis bug reporting at https://gramps-project.org/bugs/my_view_page.php I have not tried to see if Weblate works on the Gramps flatpak because I am not aware of anybody wanting it added for translators. As long as the new dependencies don’t cause conflicts with the rest of the flatpaks, don’t pull in a lot of other sub-dependencies that would have to be maintained too, or have other problems, I don’t mind trying them out in the flatpak. I recognize that a flaw/downside of flatpaks is that if someone wants an add-on that does not already have the dependencies included in the flatpak or runtime, then they can’t just add new dependencies themselves like with a repository or source install.
The Gramps flatpak update to 6.0.2 with spell check enabled is now on Flathub. If your distro’s Update Manager has not notified you yet, you can manually update by either typing or using copy/paste into a terminal the following command: flatpak update