External Applications

Programming Languages

The Void repositories have a number of Python and Lua packages. If possible, install packages from the Void repositories or consider packaging the library or application you need. Packaging your application allows for easier system maintenance and can benefit other Void Linux users, so consider making a pull request for it. The contribution instructions can be found here.

To keep packages smaller, Void has separate devel packages for header files and development tools. If you install a library or application via a language's package manager (e.g. pip, gem), or compile one from source, you may need to install the programming language's -devel package. This is specially relevant for musl libc users, due to pre-built binaries usually targeting glibc instead.

Java

Void provides LTS versions of the OpenJDK development kits and runtimes. Currently, versions 8, 11, 17, and 21 are available. To run Java-based applications, install the Java Runtime Environment of the desired version. To build Java-based programs, install the Java Development Kit of the desired version (and optionally other components listed below).

To facilitate installing multiple Java versions in parallel, Void's OpenJDK packages use xbps-alternatives(1) to select the default JDK and JRE. Each openjdkX package provides the jdk alternative group, and each openjdkX-jre package provides the java alternative group.

These alternative groups manage the symlinks at /usr/lib/jvm/default-jdk and /usr/lib/jvm/default-jre. These are used to set the JAVA_HOME environment variables and add Java utilities to your PATH via a profile script (/etc/profile.d/jdk.sh).

When installing a Java package for the first time, you may need to re-login or run source /etc/profile.d/jdk.sh in your terminal session to update these variables.

Restricted Packages

Some packages have legal restrictions on their distribution (e.g. Discord), may be too large, or have another condition that makes it difficult for Void to distribute. These packages have build templates, but the packages themselves are not built or distributed. As such, they must be built locally. For more information see the page on restricted packages.

Non-x86_64 Architectures

The Void build system runs on x86_64 servers, both for compiling and cross-compiling packages. However, some packages (e.g. pandoc) do not support cross-compilation. These packages have to be built locally on a computer running the same architecture and libc as the system on which the package is to be used. To learn how to build packages, refer to the README for the void-packages repository.

Flatpak

Flatpak is another method for installing external proprietary applications on Linux. For information on using Flatpak with Void Linux, see the official Flatpak documentation.

If sound is not working for programs installed using Flatpak, PulseAudio auto-activation might not be working correctly. Make sure PulseAudio is running before launching the program.

Note that Flatpak's sandboxing will not necessarily protect you from any security and/or privacy-violating features of proprietary software.

Troubleshooting

Some apps may not function properly (e.g. not being able to access the host system's files). Some of these issues can be fixed by installing one or more of the xdg-user-dirs, xdg-user-dirs-gtk or xdg-utils packages, and setting up XDG Desktop Portals.

Some Flatpaks require D-Bus and/or Pulseaudio.

AppImages

An AppImage is a file that bundles an application with everything needed to run it. An AppImage can be used by making it executable and running it; installation is not required. AppImages can be run in a sandbox, such as firejail.

Some of the applications for which an AppImage is available can be found on AppImageHub.

AppImages do not yet work on musl installations.

Octave Packages

Some Octave packages require external dependencies to compile and run. For example, to build the control package, you must install the openblas-devel, libgomp-devel, libgfortran-devel, gcc-fortran, and gcc packages.

MATLAB

To use MATLAB's help browser, live scripts, add-on installer, and simulink, install the libselinux package.

Steam

Steam can be installed either via a native package, which requires enabling the "nonfree" repository, or via Flatpak. The list of dependencies for different platforms and troubleshooting information for the native package can be found in its Void-specific documentation, while this section deals with potential issues faced by Flatpak users.

If you are using a different drive to store your game library, the --filesystem option from flatpak-override(1) can prove useful.