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Snap is not a standard, and never will be (RedHat will always ship flatpak for example). So Snap is no universal solution. At the same time snap packages have

Snap is not a standard, and never will be (RedHat will always ship flatpak for example). So Snap is no universal solution. At the same time snap packages have serious downsides for end users.

jckahn 5y ago
I think this comment demonstrates the parent’s point.
- robert_foss 5y ago
  Well, no. The parent point was that Snap is a way out of this software packaging quagmire, but I am saying that Snap will never unify the linux distros.
  - BearOso 5y ago
    A snap has Ubuntu-specific package dependencies. That's totally not a cross-platform concept. The only thing snap solves is sandboxing, but there are better ways to do that.
    - everybodyknows 5y ago
      > Ubuntu-specific package dependencies Could you briefly summarize those for us?
- sph 5y ago
  Before every distro had their own package management system and repository. Then 99% went with Flatpak, except one, Ubuntu with their own proprietary solution called snap. It's not the same thing. We have a decent (yeah not perfect, I'll spare commenters the effort of posting that same old tired flatpak rebuttal) cross distro packaging solution, but Canonical always wants to play different and not collaborate with the other standards. So here we are.
  - Spivak 5y ago
    You can also just install Flatpak on Ubuntu and never think about Snap ever again if you so choose. Someone putting forth effort to maintain their own bespoke repository isn't really that big a deal. In 10 years the "Ubuntu Store" will be a pretty frontend on top of Flatpak just like Gnome Software, and just like every NIH Canonical product made before it.
    - Karunamon 5y ago
      Unless you want Firefox or some other apps where the deb package is a thin frontend around a snap install command.
      - Spivak 5y ago
        Fair criticism, but wouldn't you be installing the Flatpak versions of those apps anyway? I get the loss of the distro-provided builds but in abstract I can't find some fundamental reason distros can't drop packages from their repos.
        rhamzeh 5y ago
        I'd rather a package report as `does-not-exist` and suggest I install it from snap over it installing it silently from snap without my input
  - forgotpwd16 5y ago
    What 99%? Fedora, Mint, eOS, Pop use Flatpak. Ubuntu (and derivatives other than aforementioned ones) and Solus use Snap. In every other distro, including but not limited to popular ones like Debian, SUSE, Slackware, Arch, Void, Gentoo, both are optional. Neither Flatpak nor Snap is standard.

Snap is not a standard, and never will be (RedHat will always ship flatpak for example). So Snap is no universal solution. At the same time snap packages have serious downsides for end users.

jckahn 5y ago

I think this comment demonstrates the parent’s point.

robert_foss 5y ago
Well, no. The parent point was that Snap is a way out of this software packaging quagmire, but I am saying that Snap will never unify the linux distros.
- BearOso 5y ago
  A snap has Ubuntu-specific package dependencies. That's totally not a cross-platform concept. The only thing snap solves is sandboxing, but there are better ways to do that.
  - everybodyknows 5y ago
    > Ubuntu-specific package dependencies Could you briefly summarize those for us?
sph 5y ago
Before every distro had their own package management system and repository. Then 99% went with Flatpak, except one, Ubuntu with their own proprietary solution called snap. It's not the same thing. We have a decent (yeah not perfect, I'll spare commenters the effort of posting that same old tired flatpak rebuttal) cross distro packaging solution, but Canonical always wants to play different and not collaborate with the other standards. So here we are.
- Spivak 5y ago
  You can also just install Flatpak on Ubuntu and never think about Snap ever again if you so choose. Someone putting forth effort to maintain their own bespoke repository isn't really that big a deal. In 10 years the "Ubuntu Store" will be a pretty frontend on top of Flatpak just like Gnome Software, and just like every NIH Canonical product made before it.
  - Karunamon 5y ago
    Unless you want Firefox or some other apps where the deb package is a thin frontend around a snap install command.
    - Spivak 5y ago
      Fair criticism, but wouldn't you be installing the Flatpak versions of those apps anyway? I get the loss of the distro-provided builds but in abstract I can't find some fundamental reason distros can't drop packages from their repos.
      - rhamzeh 5y ago
        I'd rather a package report as `does-not-exist` and suggest I install it from snap over it installing it silently from snap without my input
- forgotpwd16 5y ago
  What 99%? Fedora, Mint, eOS, Pop use Flatpak. Ubuntu (and derivatives other than aforementioned ones) and Solus use Snap. In every other distro, including but not limited to popular ones like Debian, SUSE, Slackware, Arch, Void, Gentoo, both are optional. Neither Flatpak nor Snap is standard.