Firefox and Thunderbird as RHEL Flatpaks: What it means for you

Starting with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10.2, Firefox and Thunderbird are delivered as Flatpaks by default. If you install RHEL with a graphical desktop, your browser and email client will now come from the Red Hat Flatpak registry instead of traditional RPM Package Managers (RPMs). Here's what that means in practice and why we think it's a better experience.

What's changing

When you install RHEL 10.2 with a GNOME desktop, Firefox and Thunderbird are delivered as Flatpaks as part of the installation process. If your system has an active RHEL subscription, this happens automatically—no manual login, no credential management, no extra configuration. Your existing subscription entitlement handles registry access.

For most users, the experience is transparent. You still launch Firefox from the application menu the same way you always have. The difference is under the hood.

What you gain

Independent updates. RPM-delivered desktop applications are tied to the RHEL minor release cadence. When Firefox is an RPM, updating it means waiting for the next RHEL point release or errata. As a Flatpak, Firefox can receive updates on its own schedule, independent of the operating system (OS) release cycle. That means faster access to new features and security fixes for applications that move quickly.

Fewer dependency conflicts. Flatpaks bundle their dependencies rather than sharing libraries with the rest of the system. This eliminates the class of problems where updating 1 application pulls in a library version that breaks another. Each application gets exactly the runtime it needs, and the base OS stays clean.

A cleaner separation between OS and applications. This is the direction RHEL has been heading—and frankly, the direction the entire Linux desktop ecosystem has been heading. The OS provides the platform. Applications run on top of it with their own dependencies, their own update lifecycle, and their own packaging. It's a more maintainable model, especially for organizations managing fleets of RHEL desktops.

What about RPMs?

RPMs for Firefox and Thunderbird were deprecated in RHEL 10.0, and RHEL 10.2 completes the transition by making Flatpaks the default. But RPMs are still available. If your environment has constraints that make Flatpaks impractical (air-gapped deployments without registry access, custom builds, or organizational policies), you can still install the RPM versions manually. They haven't been removed from the AppStream repository.

How it works for automated deployments

If you deploy RHEL via Kickstart, this works the same way. The installer pulls Firefox from the Flatpak registry during installation as long as the system has network access and an active subscription. We've tested this on all supported architectures.

If the Flatpak registry is unavailable during installation—due to a network issue, domain name system (DNS) hiccup, or other reason—the installer handles it gracefully. The installation completes without the browser rather than failing entirely. You can install Firefox after the fact, either as a Flatpak (see the official documentation) or as an RPM.

Looking ahead

Firefox and Thunderbird are the first 2 applications making this transition, but they won't be the last. We're building the infrastructure and the tooling to make Flatpak delivery the standard for RHEL desktop applications. This opens the door for independent software vendors (ISVs) to deliver their applications to RHEL desktops through the same mechanism: self-contained, independently updatable, and free from dependency conflicts with the base OS.

If you run into issues with the Flatpak transition or have feedback, we want to hear about it. Talk to your Red Hat account team, open a support case, or comment on the relevant JIRA issue. We're tracking this transition closely.

For more information please review the release notes.