ANN: Experimental flatpak pharo vm v10.3.9
Hello, As some of you may know, Iâve been working on a Flatpak for the Pharo VM. After some work, I think I finally have a version thatâs ready to be tested, so please give it a try! You can find it here: https://forge.smallworks.eu/pharo/pharo-vm-flatpak Just follow the installation instructions in the repo. A few notes: * This is still a regular Pharo VM, but the bundled dependencies are the ones used by Pharo 14. This matters especially for Iceberg, since it uses libgit2 1.9.4. * For FFI, I had to update UnifiedFFI in Pharo 14 so it can find libraries in the right places. Since Flatpak runs in a sandbox, host libraries, when needed, are exposed under |/run/host/...|. The Pharo run script already adapts |LD_LIBRARY_PATH| for this, but uFFI does not use it. * This is a full VM with quite a few dependencies, including the GNOME runtime, because it is also part of another project that needs them. You can snoop around the repo, or wait for my ESUG talk to hear more about that. ;) * I tested it on my own Arch system and on Ubuntu 24. That said, it may still need some tweaks on other systems, or even on different machines running those same systems, so please let me know how it goes. :) Cheers ! Esteban
Hi esteban excellent news. Did you announce it on the pharo news web site? S
On 2 Jun 2026, at 12:15, Esteban Lorenzano via Pharo-dev <pharo-dev@lists.pharo.org> wrote:
Hello,
As some of you may know, Iâve been working on a Flatpak for the Pharo VM. After some work, I think I finally have a version thatâs ready to be tested, so please give it a try!
You can find it here: https://forge.smallworks.eu/pharo/pharo-vm-flatpak Just follow the installation instructions in the repo.
A few notes:
This is still a regular Pharo VM, but the bundled dependencies are the ones used by Pharo 14. This matters especially for Iceberg, since it uses libgit2 1.9.4.
For FFI, I had to update UnifiedFFI in Pharo 14 so it can find libraries in the right places. Since Flatpak runs in a sandbox, host libraries, when needed, are exposed under /run/host/.... The Pharo run script already adapts LD_LIBRARY_PATH for this, but uFFI does not use it.
This is a full VM with quite a few dependencies, including the GNOME runtime, because it is also part of another project that needs them. You can snoop around the repo, or wait for my ESUG talk to hear more about that. ;)
I tested it on my own Arch system and on Ubuntu 24. That said, it may still need some tweaks on other systems, or even on different machines running those same systems, so please let me know how it goes. :)
Cheers ! Esteban
Hi Esteban, Looks great, thanks. However, I got an error :) After following the instructions to install the flatpak, it looks installed successfully: $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo --version Pharo v12.0.3-beta Compiler: 15.2.0 Built from: v12.0.3-beta+0.2aa4b7c - Commit: 2aa4b7c - Date: 2026-06-03 15:53:56 +0200 Then I downloaded a Pharo image but get this error: $ curl https://get.pharo.org/140 | bash $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo Pharo.image [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 loadPharoImage (src/client.c:218):Image file not found: No such file or directory [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 runVMThread (src/client.c:239):Error opening image file: Pharo.image I tried with variants such as full path and get the same: $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo "/tmp/Pharo.image" $ uname -a Linux x 6.1.0-49-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.174-1 (2026-05-26) x86_64 GNU/Linux Any idea? Martin El mar, 2 jun 2026 a la(s) 6:16â¯a.m., Esteban Lorenzano via Pharo-dev ( pharo-dev@lists.pharo.org) escribió:
Hello,
As some of you may know, Iâve been working on a Flatpak for the Pharo VM. After some work, I think I finally have a version thatâs ready to be tested, so please give it a try!
You can find it here: https://forge.smallworks.eu/pharo/pharo-vm-flatpak Just follow the installation instructions in the repo.
A few notes:
-
This is still a regular Pharo VM, but the bundled dependencies are the ones used by Pharo 14. This matters especially for Iceberg, since it uses libgit2 1.9.4. -
For FFI, I had to update UnifiedFFI in Pharo 14 so it can find libraries in the right places. Since Flatpak runs in a sandbox, host libraries, when needed, are exposed under /run/host/.... The Pharo run script already adapts LD_LIBRARY_PATH for this, but uFFI does not use it. -
This is a full VM with quite a few dependencies, including the GNOME runtime, because it is also part of another project that needs them. You can snoop around the repo, or wait for my ESUG talk to hear more about that. ;) -
I tested it on my own Arch system and on Ubuntu 24. That said, it may still need some tweaks on other systems, or even on different machines running those same systems, so please let me know how it goes. :)
Cheers ! Esteban
did you try flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo YourImage.image --interactive ? On 7/3/26 03:53, Martin Dias wrote:
Hi Esteban,
Looks great, thanks.
However, I got an error :) After following the instructions to install the flatpak, it looks installed successfully:
$ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo --version Pharo v12.0.3-beta Compiler: 15.2.0 Built from: v12.0.3-beta+0.2aa4b7c - Commit: 2aa4b7c - Date: 2026-06-03 15:53:56 +0200
Then I downloaded a Pharo image but get this error:
$ curl https://get.pharo.org/140 | bash $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo Pharo.image [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 loadPharoImage (src/client.c:218):Image file not found: No such file or directory [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 runVMThread (src/client.c:239):Error opening image file: Pharo.image
I tried with variants such as full path and get the same: $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo "/tmp/Pharo.image"
$ uname -a Linux x 6.1.0-49-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.174-1 (2026-05-26) x86_64 GNU/Linux
Any idea?
Martin
El mar, 2 jun 2026 a la(s) 6:16â¯a.m., Esteban Lorenzano via Pharo-dev (pharo-dev@lists.pharo.org) escribió:
Hello,
As some of you may know, Iâve been working on a Flatpak for the Pharo VM. After some work, I think I finally have a version thatâs ready to be tested, so please give it a try!
You can find it here: https://forge.smallworks.eu/pharo/pharo-vm-flatpak Just follow the installation instructions in the repo.
A few notes:
*
This is still a regular Pharo VM, but the bundled dependencies are the ones used by Pharo 14. This matters especially for Iceberg, since it uses libgit2 1.9.4.
*
For FFI, I had to update UnifiedFFI in Pharo 14 so it can find libraries in the right places. Since Flatpak runs in a sandbox, host libraries, when needed, are exposed under |/run/host/...|. The Pharo run script already adapts |LD_LIBRARY_PATH| for this, but uFFI does not use it.
*
This is a full VM with quite a few dependencies, including the GNOME runtime, because it is also part of another project that needs them. You can snoop around the repo, or wait for my ESUG talk to hear more about that. ;)
*
I tested it on my own Arch system and on Ubuntu 24. That said, it may still need some tweaks on other systems, or even on different machines running those same systems, so please let me know how it goes. :)
Cheers ! Esteban
Same: $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo Pharo.image --interactive [ERROR] 2026-07-03 09:42:36.000 loadPharoImage (src/client.c:218):Image file not found: No such file or directory [ERROR] 2026-07-03 09:42:36.000 runVMThread (src/client.c:239):Error opening image file: Pharo.image I'll ask you via Discord El vie, 3 jul 2026 a la(s) 1:15â¯a.m., Esteban Lorenzano (estebanlm@netc.eu) escribió:
did you try
flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo YourImage.image --interactive
?
On 7/3/26 03:53, Martin Dias wrote:
Hi Esteban,
Looks great, thanks.
However, I got an error :) After following the instructions to install the flatpak, it looks installed successfully:
$ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo --version Pharo v12.0.3-beta Compiler: 15.2.0 Built from: v12.0.3-beta+0.2aa4b7c - Commit: 2aa4b7c - Date: 2026-06-03 15:53:56 +0200
Then I downloaded a Pharo image but get this error:
$ curl https://get.pharo.org/140 | bash $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo Pharo.image [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 loadPharoImage (src/client.c:218):Image file not found: No such file or directory [ERROR] 2026-07-02 21:45:48.000 runVMThread (src/client.c:239):Error opening image file: Pharo.image
I tried with variants such as full path and get the same: $ flatpak run org.pharo.Pharo "/tmp/Pharo.image"
$ uname -a Linux x 6.1.0-49-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.174-1 (2026-05-26) x86_64 GNU/Linux
Any idea?
Martin
El mar, 2 jun 2026 a la(s) 6:16â¯a.m., Esteban Lorenzano via Pharo-dev ( pharo-dev@lists.pharo.org) escribió:
Hello,
As some of you may know, Iâve been working on a Flatpak for the Pharo VM. After some work, I think I finally have a version thatâs ready to be tested, so please give it a try!
You can find it here: https://forge.smallworks.eu/pharo/pharo-vm-flatpak Just follow the installation instructions in the repo.
A few notes:
-
This is still a regular Pharo VM, but the bundled dependencies are the ones used by Pharo 14. This matters especially for Iceberg, since it uses libgit2 1.9.4. -
For FFI, I had to update UnifiedFFI in Pharo 14 so it can find libraries in the right places. Since Flatpak runs in a sandbox, host libraries, when needed, are exposed under /run/host/.... The Pharo run script already adapts LD_LIBRARY_PATH for this, but uFFI does not use it. -
This is a full VM with quite a few dependencies, including the GNOME runtime, because it is also part of another project that needs them. You can snoop around the repo, or wait for my ESUG talk to hear more about that. ;) -
I tested it on my own Arch system and on Ubuntu 24. That said, it may still need some tweaks on other systems, or even on different machines running those same systems, so please let me know how it goes. :)
Cheers ! Esteban
participants (3)
-
Esteban Lorenzano -
Martin Dias -
sducasseatwork＠mailo.com