Flatpak is a cross-platform package management tool for installing applications on Linux systems. This tutorial will show you how to use a script to create a case-insensitive startup command, allowing you to quickly launch Flatpak-installed applications (such as QQ, WeChat, Telegram, Discord, and Signal) using commands like qq , QQ , and wechat . The script is simple to use, compatible with Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Debian, and supports one-click cleanup.

Create the Startup Script

1. Create the Script File

Use any text editor (nano, vim, gedit, code, etc.). Here, we use nano :

nano ~/flatapps-setup.sh


2. Write the Script

Copy the following complete script into the editor (this is your Flatpak launcher script):


#!/bin/bash


# Create a directory

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin/flatapps

sudo chown $USER:$USER /usr/local/bin/flatapps

cd /usr/local/bin/flatapps


# Create a startup script

echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nflatpak run com.qq.QQ' > qq

echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nflatpak run com.tencent.WeChat' > wechat

echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nflatpak run com.g.telegram.desktop' > telegram

echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nflatpak run com.discordapp.Discord' > discord

echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nflatpak run org.signal.Signal' > signal


# Empowerment

chmod +x qq wechat telegram discord signal


# Create case-sensitive soft links

ln -sf qq QQ

ln -sf wechat WeChat

ln -sf telegram Telegram

ln -sf discord Discord

ln -sf signal Signal


# Add to PATH

grep -qxF 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin/flatapps' ~/.bashrc || \

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin/flatapps' >> ~/.bashrc


echo "Installation complete! Restart the terminal or execute source ~/.bashrc to take effect."


3. Execute the Script

Save and run:

bash flatapps-setup.sh

source ~/.bashrc


Done! Now type qq , QQ , wechat , WeChat , etc., to launch the respective Flatpak apps.


One-Click Removal

1. Create the Removal Script

Use nano to create the cleanup script:

nano ~/flatapps-remove.sh


2. Write the Removal Script

Copy the following complete script:


#!/bin/bash

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/flatapps

sed -i '/\/usr\/local\/bin\/flatapps/d' ~/.bashrc

echo "The flatapps directory and PATH record have been completely deleted."


3. Execute Removal

Run to clean up:

bash flatapps-remove.sh

source ~/.bashrc



Notes

  • Ensure Flatpak and target apps (eg, com.qq.QQ ) are installed.
  • Run scripts with bash ; use sudo for permission issues.
  • Removal script only deletes the launcher, not the Flatpak apps.