Zed's Distro Considerations, Flatpak, Memory Profiling, and Troubleshooting

However, we realize that many distros have other priorities. We want to work with everyone to bring Zed to their favorite platforms. But there is a long way to go: - Zed is a fast-moving early-phase project. We typically release 2-3 builds per week to fix user-reported issues and release major features. - There are a couple of other `zed` binaries that may be present on Linux systems ([1](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/v2.2/8/zed.8.html), [2](https://zed.brimdata.io/docs/commands/zed)). If you want to rename our CLI binary because of these issues, we suggest `zedit`, `zeditor`, or `zed-cli`. - Zed automatically installs the correct version of common developer tools in the same way as rustup/rbenv/pyenv, etc. We understand this is contentious, [see here](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12589). - We allow users to install extensions locally and from [zed-industries/extensions](https://github.com/zed-industries/extensions). These extensions may install further tooling as needed, such as language servers. In the long run, we would like to make this safer, [see here](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12358). - Zed connects to several online services by default (AI, telemetry, collaboration). AI and our telemetry can be disabled by your users with their zed settings or by patching our [default settings file](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/settings/default.json). - As a result of the above issues, zed currently does not play nice with sandboxes, [see here](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/pull/12006#issuecomment-2130421220) ## Flatpak > Zed's current Flatpak integration exits the sandbox on startup. Workflows that rely on Flatpak's sandboxing may not work as expected. To build & install the Flatpak package locally follow the steps below: 1. Install Flatpak for your distribution as outlined [here](https://flathub.org/setup). 2. Run the `script/flatpak/deps` script to install the required dependencies. 3. Run `script/flatpak/bundle-flatpak`. 4. Now the package has been installed and has a bundle available at `target/release/{app-id}.flatpak`. ## Memory profiling [`heaptrack`](https://github.com/KDE/heaptrack) is quite useful for diagnosing memory leaks. To install it: ```sh $ sudo apt install heaptrack heaptrack-gui $ cargo install cargo-heaptrack ``` Then, to build and run Zed with the profiler attached: ```sh $ cargo heaptrack -b zed ``` When this zed instance is exited, terminal output will include a command to run `heaptrack_interpret` to convert the `*.raw.zst` profile to a `*.zst` file which can be passed to `heaptrack_gui` for viewing. ## Troubleshooting ### Cargo errors claiming that a dependency is using unstable features Try `cargo clean` and `cargo build`. ### Vulkan/GPU issues If Zed crashes at runtime due to GPU or vulkan issues, you can try running [vkcube](https://github.com/krh/vkcube) (usually available as part of the `vulkaninfo` package on various distributions) to try to troubleshoot where the issue is coming from. Try running in both X11 and wayland modes by running `vkcube -m [x11|wayland]`. Some versions of `vkcube` use `vkcube` to run in X11 and `vkcube-wayland` to run in wayland.

This section discusses the challenges and considerations for distributing Zed on different Linux distributions, including its rapid development, potential binary name conflicts, automatic tool installation, and extension handling. It also notes issues with sandboxing and provides instructions for building and installing Zed as a Flatpak. Furthermore, it explains how to use `heaptrack` for memory profiling and provides troubleshooting tips for common Cargo and Vulkan/GPU-related issues.