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+date = 2023-01-21
+title = "Running Flatpak Apps with Symlinks"
+description = "Learn how to run Flatpak apps through menu launchers with symlinks."
++++
+
+## Running Flatpak Apps Should Be Faster
+
+If you're like me and use Flatpak for those pesky apps that cannot run
+on your system for one reason or another, you likely get annoyed with
+opening a terminal and manually running the Flatpak app with the lengthy
+`flatpak run ...` command.
+
+In the past, I manually created aliases in my `.zshrc` file
+for certain apps. For example, an alias would look like the example
+below.
+
+This would allow me to run the command fast within the terminal, but it
+wouldn't allow me to run it in an application launcher.
+
+```sh
+# ~/.zshrc
+alias librewolf = "flatpak run io.gitlab.librewolf-community"
+```
+
+However, I now use a much faster and better method that integrates with
+the tiling WMs I use and their application launchers -
+`dmenu` and `bemenu`.
+
+## Creating Symlinks for Flatpak Apps
+
+Let's use the example of Librewolf below. I can install the application
+like so:
+
+```sh
+flatpak install flathub io.gitlab.librewolf-community
+```
+
+Once installed, I can create a symlink to link the flatpak app to my new
+symlink in a location commonly included in your PATH. In this case, I
+chose `/usr/bin`. You may need to choose a different location
+if `/usr/bin` isn't in your PATH.
+
+```sh
+ln -s /var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin/io.gitlab.librewolf-community /usr/bin/librewolf
+```
+
+Once complete, you should be able to launch the app using the command
+name you chose above in the symlink (`librewolf`) from a
+terminal or from your application launcher!