I’ve been using Manjaro on the unstable branch to ensure I have access to the latest software versions. However, I’ve noticed that Flathub often has newer versions of packages compared to what’s available through the Manjaro package manager. For example, I had to install Discord from Flathub because the version available in the Manjaro repositories didn’t work as expected unless it was the latest version.
Another example, I’ve had to install another package from both the official repository and Flathub because the Flathub version is the latest one but lacks the option to use the software from the command line, and the official repository is an old version that lacks functionality I use. So I use the Flathub version to use the software normally and the official repository version to use the software from the command line.
I’m curious to know why this discrepancy exists. Is it due to differences in release cycles, packaging processes, or something else?
This app is not developed in the open, so only its developers know how it works. It may be insecure in ways that are hard to detect, and it may change without oversight.
Discord in Manjaro extra repository is inherited from Arch
Build Date: 2025-09-16 06:22 UTC
Signed By: Robin Candau
Signature Date: 2025-09-16 06:24 UTC
Last Updated: 2025-09-16 06:25 UTC
$ mbn info discord -q
Branch : archlinux
Name : discord
Version : 1:0.0.110-1
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 16 Sep 2025 07:22:45
Packager : Robin Candau <antiz@archlinux.org>
Branch : unstable
Name : discord
Version : 1:0.0.110-1
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 16 Sep 2025 07:22:45
Packager : Robin Candau <antiz@archlinux.org>
Branch : testing
Name : discord
Version : 1:0.0.110-1
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 16 Sep 2025 07:22:45
Packager : Robin Candau <antiz@archlinux.org>
Branch : stable
Name : discord
Version : 1:0.0.110-1
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 16 Sep 2025 07:22:45
Packager : Robin Candau <antiz@archlinux.org>
Package is fast-tracked to all Manjaro branches to avoid complaints from impatient Discord users distracting from other update issues
Discord is also accessible via a web browser if repository package update is delayed for a few hours
Manjaro is a curated rolling release. It has a stable branch, which is deliberately lagging behind arch so that some things can be tested and fine tuned. For the impatient, there is the unstable branch which is equal to arch stable.
So in theory to have the latest and greatest (features and bugs) you need at least manjaro unstable. That is, if the creator of the software bothers to provide packages for arch. Otherwise someone from arch team will have to make a package from source and it can take some days.
And Discord is another beast altogether as mentioned above. With proprietary software there is always some problem or exception of the rule.
Someone pointed out that this is incorrect. Even the unstable branch, which syncs with Arch, might not have the latest version of a software if it hasn’t been added to Arch’s repositories yet.
So, I believe my understanding of Arch was mistaken. I thought that being a rolling release Linux distribution meant it always had the latest software available but apparently this is not the case.
Arch also has testing repositories for updates that have the potential to break the system,
and for staging large collections of packages such as GNOME and KDE
and unstable repositories for beta/Release Candidate packages Official repositories - ArchWiki
NO Distribution will have packages before the maintainers have ADDED the packages. ARCH is fast about this. FAR faster than most. But they still cannot be faster than the project developers, who outnumber them by a massive margin!
The only way to get applications faster is to get them directly from the developers sites, which is to risky even for most of those running ARCH Unstable!
If you are talking about Manjaro ARM Unstable, we have been on a hiatus recently due to sickness of probably the most active maintainer of the project. Manjaro arm repos haven’t been synced with the arch arm for some time now. So it is possible that flatpak versions of some apps are more recent than ours.
Discord is the only package that I know of that contains proprietary telemetry to check if latest version is installed and block usage of older version
Older versions of other packages usually work without requiring an immediate update
The latest versions of Discord are available from AUR
But due to the proprietary nature of discord and the fact that it refuses to still work whenever the developers release a new version, it’ll remain a moving target, won’t it?
I don’t use discord — or at least, not anymore, because a few years ago I did have to use it for some project I was involved in, so I’m familiar with its annoying behavior — and I personally prefer not having any FlatPaks, Snaps or AppImages installed, but in this case, I would definitely recommend that people who want to keep on using the original discord instead of one of the alternatives would always use the FlatPak as provided by the developers, instead of the repository or AUR versions.
IMO discord is someone else’s problem and not a Manjaro moving target
I used to use a workaround to skip Discord update check
(add "SKIP_HOST_UPDATE": true, to $HOME/.config/discord/settings.json)
but I have not used it since repository package is fast-tracked and only delayed by a few hours
I use Firefox if the installed client needs an update. Other users can probably access
discord via a mobile phone
Since Discord is fast-tracked it cannot be considered as curated like other Manjaro packages
any issues with the repository package or Flatpak should be reported upstream Help Center - Discord Submit a request - Discord
