Maintain a list of all Flatpak apps ever successfully preinstalled on the system, and use it to avoid reinstalling user-deleted apps.

mkosi.extra/usr/lib/install-new-flatpaks

@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ set -eu
 FACTORY_DIR="/usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/app"
 REPO_CONFIG="/usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/repo/config"
 DEFAULT_REMOTE="flathub"
-INSTALLED_APPS=$(flatpak list --app --columns=application)
-CHANGE_HISTORY=$(flatpak history --columns=change,application)
+INSTALLED_APPS=$(tr '\n' ' ' <<< $(flatpak list --app --columns=application))
+EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE="/var/lib/kde-linux/ever-preinstalled-flatpak-apps"
+EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS=$(tr '\n' ' ' < $EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE)
 
 echo "Looking in $FACTORY_DIR for new pre-installed apps that need installing…"
 
@@ -18,14 +19,15 @@ for APP in "$FACTORY_DIR"/*; do
     APP=$(basename "$APP")
 
     # Skip if it's already installed
-    if [[ "$INSTALLED_APPS" == *"$APP"* ]]; then
+    if [[ " $INSTALLED_APPS " == *" $APP "* ]]; then
         echo "Skipping $APP (already installed)"
         continue
     fi
 
-    # Skip if the user uninstalled it
-    if rg "$APP" <<<"$CHANGE_HISTORY" | tail -n 1 | rg uninstall >/dev/null; then
-        echo "Skipping $APP (previously uninstalled by user)"
+    # Skip it if it was ever preinstalled. (If so, then the user must have chosen
+    # to uninstall it, so we don't want to reinstall it.)
+    if [[ " $EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS " == *" $APP "* ]]; then
+        echo "Skipping $APP (was preinstalled, but then uninstalled by user)"
         continue
     fi
 
@@ -45,5 +47,8 @@ for APP in "$FACTORY_DIR"/*; do
     fi
 
     echo "Installing $APP from $REMOTE…"
-    flatpak install --system --noninteractive --assumeyes --sideload-repo=/usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/repo "$REMOTE" "$APP"
+    # If the app is successfully installed, record that we preinstalled it,
+    # so that we know not to reverse a future uninstall by the user.
+    flatpak install --system --noninteractive --assumeyes --sideload-repo=/usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/repo "$REMOTE" "$APP" &&
+        echo $APP >> $EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE
 done

mkosi.extra/usr/lib/seed-preinstalled-flatpak-list

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-KDE-Accepted-GPL
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Philip Grant <pg_kde_invent@runbox.com>
+
+set -eu
+
+EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE="/var/lib/kde-linux/ever-preinstalled-flatpak-apps"
+
+if [[ -f /etc/plasma-setup-done ]]; then
+    # This is an "old" system that was installed without the "ever-preinstalled-flatpak-apps"
+    # file being created at first boot, We create it with a hardcoded list of the apps
+    # that were preinstalled before Nov 2025. (We exclude qrca and keepsecret, which
+    # should have been preinstalled before the "ever-preinstalled-flatpak-apps" file
+    # was created, but on many systems weren't, because the "kde-linux-install-new-flatpak-apps"
+    # service wasn't enabled.)
+    echo "Pre-existing KDE Linux install: using preinstalled app list as of Nov 2025"
+    cat <<EOF > $EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE
+org.kde.gwenview
+org.kde.okular
+org.kde.kwrite
+org.kde.haruna
+org.kde.ark
+org.kde.kcalc
+org.mozilla.firefox
+EOF
+else
+    # This is a brand new system. The set of apps that have ever been preinstalled on the system
+    # is exactly those in /usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/app
+    echo "New KDE Linux install: using preinstalled app list from factory directory"
+    ls /usr/share/factory/var/lib/flatpak/app > $EVER_PREINSTALLED_APPS_FILE
+fi

mkosi.extra/usr/lib/systemd/system/kde-linux-seed-preinstalled-flatpak-list.service

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR GPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-KDE-Accepted-GPL
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Philip Grant <pg_kde_invent@runbox.com>
+
+[Unit]
+Description=Write the initial list of ever preinstalled Flatpaks on older systems
+ConditionPathExists=!/var/lib/kde-linux/ever-preinstalled-flatpak-apps
+ConditionKernelCommandLine=!kde-linux.live=1
+DefaultDependencies=no
+After=local-fs.target
+Before=kde-linux-install-new-flatpak-apps.service plasma-setup.service
+Conflicts=shutdown.target
+Before=shutdown.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/lib/seed-preinstalled-flatpak-list

mkosi.extra/usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/kde-linux-seed-preinstalled-flatpak-list.service

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/usr/lib/systemd/system/kde-linux-seed-preinstalled-flatpak-list.service