Flatpak is a package format for distributing Linux apps that allows for supporting many distros with a single binary. Most flatpak apps are GUI-based, but there are CLI-only flatpak apps.
Are there plans to create an official Rclone flatpak? The main advantages to having one would be
1)Having a Linux binary of the latest version of rclone that works on all major distros and can be updated automatically, and
2)Allowing the user to use Flatpak's permission system to partially sandbox rclone, for example by limiting its access to specific directories.
Maybe it is my own lack of imagination but since rclone is distributed at a single binary with no other dependancies, this seems like it is a solution in search of a problem. I am not saying it is identical (mostly, you need to know your architecture) but for distribution, the single binary is pretty nice. Not to mention that you can also do the
$ curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
install.
As for permissions, rclone can do whatever the user who executed it can do, right? I am not sure what a further sandbox will add. If a nefarious user does:
$ rclone purge /
They could just as easily do
$ rm -rf /
If sandboxing is one of your requirements, you can always run it in Docker or another container solution