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FerrisPad is on FlatPark

FerrisPad turned one this autumn. Today it also became installable as a Flatpak on any Linux distribution, on x86_64 and on ARM64.

The part where I almost stopped

In August I submitted FerrisPad to Flathub. The submission was closed under Flathub's generative-AI policy: FerrisPad is built with AI assistance, and the policy rules that out, whatever the app does. I took it badly, and for a while I let the project slide.

I understand the concern behind rules like that. A lot of low-effort code is being thrown around right now. But the answer to bad code is to look at the code, not at the tools used to write it. I sign what I ship, and I check it: FerrisPad has a test suite, CI gates on every change, a security audit whose fixes ship today, and every AI-assisted commit says so in its trailer.

Last week the Linux kernel dropped its rule requiring contributors to declare AI tool use. Linus Torvalds explained why:

"I expect people to understand what they are doing. But that understanding has very little to do with what tools they use."

If that holds for the kernel, it can hold for a text editor.

FlatPark

FlatPark is a Flatpak remote that judges apps by what they do. Its review checks the package, the permissions and the binary it installs, not who or what typed the code. FerrisPad's package passed that review this morning, and the ARM64 build followed the same day. It installs the official release binary, unmodified, and updates with flatpak update.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flatpark https://dl.flatpark.org/flatpark.flatpakrepo

flatpak install flatpark com.ferrispad.FerrisPad

Why I keep building it

I use Fedora, and a Mac now and then. I wanted an old-school notepad: it opens, I write what I need, and nothing else asks for my attention. FerrisPad is one binary, uses 0% CPU when idle, and sends no telemetry. It has what I reach for when writing: syntax highlighting, tabs and sessions, a Markdown preview, and Lua plugins when I want them.

What shipped today

  • 0.9.6: the security audit fixes (plugin sandbox, terminal, a newer TLS stack), keyboard shortcuts that follow the layout you type with, and a long list of smaller fixes.

  • 0.9.7: Escape no longer hides the editor window.

  • 0.9.8: signed ARM64 Linux builds, and an updater that only ever installs a binary built for your machine.

Downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux are on the download page, and the code is on GitHub. If something doesn't work for you, open an issue: that is the fastest way to get it fixed.