Updates

Pin a Flatpak App to a Fixed Version on Wayland

Flatpak apps are great for sandboxing, but the automatic update loop can be a nuisance when a new release breaks a workflow or introduces a regression. On a Wayland‑based desktop (GNOME, KDE, etc.) the update mechanism is the same as on X11, so the steps below work everywhere.

1. Inspect the current version

flatpak info com.spotify.Client

The output shows the installed commit hash and the remote’s latest commit. If you’re running a version that you want to keep, note the commit hash:

Introduction to systemd Recovery

I’ve seen this go wrong when a systemd update fails - it’s a pretty stressful experience, especially when systemd is the core init system for your Linux distribution. Recently, I had a similar issue on my small home server. The update process seemed fine at first, but after a reboot, I was greeted with an error message indicating that systemd had failed to start.

Identifying the Problem

The real trick is to stay calm and use the right tools to diagnose the issue. I booted into rescue mode using a live USB stick, which gave me access to the filesystem. From there, I inspected the systemd logs using the following command: