5 ms·

Snaps don't update when the app is running. I don't know what happened here, but it seems the problem might be somewhere else.

josephcsible 4y ago
If that goes on for 2 weeks, doesn't it kill the app and update anyway?
- mesebrec 4y ago
  If you ignore the notifications for two weeks, yes. But you even get a notification at least four hours before updating saying you have little time left. That said, if you run `snap hold firefox`, it will wait indefinitely.
  - bauruine 4y ago
    Not updating isn't a solution. What works for me is a systemd service that does a snap refresh on boot. At least I have some controll on when it updates.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - bobmaxup 4y ago
      I know it is simple to do, but care to share the unit file?
      - bauruine 4y ago
        It's the most basic file possible but it does it's job. cat /etc/systemd/system/upgrade-system.service [Unit] After=network-online.target [Service] ExecStart=/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/snap refresh && apt update && apt upgrade -y' [Install] WantedBy=default.target
  - magicalhippo 4y ago
    The problem is that the dialog says to quit the application so snap can update, but snap doesn't do that. It checks a few times a day and bails if the application is running. It doesn't wait for the application to exit and then update, like the dialog indicates it would. Thus you quit the Firefox, wait a few minutes, assume it has been updated because why shouldn't it, and after two weeks it gets killed mid-session. Completely inexcusable UX...
    - Zuiii 4y ago
      I've encountered this exact issue: It kept bugging me to close firefox so that I can update. I closed it. Then I relaunched it and the message popped up again. I repeated this process for a couple of days until I gave up, uninstalled snap, and installed flatpak. Issues like this are present in a lot of highly-opinionated software; they become utterly unusable when used in a way that deviates from the dev's ideal vision, or ways they plain just refuse to support. Configurability and transparency is almost always a good thing in software. It seems that some Devs will have to relearn this lesson the hard way.
      - josephcsible 4y ago
        For the record, the solution to this is to run "snap refresh" manually right after you exit Firefox.
- justsomehnguy 4y ago
  Are you the same people who bitched when Win10 just restarted to install updates? Yes this comment has a little malice in it.
  - josephcsible 4y ago
    What do you mean "just" restarted? Isn't killing one single program a subset of what happens when your computer restarts? And isn't 2 weeks a lot more lead time than Windows gives you?
m463 4y ago
it is extremely hard to disable or remove tracking or auto-update stuff on ubuntu. (snapd, unattended-upgrades, ubuntu-report, whoopsie, ubuntu-advantage-tools, motd and more)
- mesebrec 4y ago
  You turn automatic snap updates off by running `snap hold`.
- Avamander 4y ago
  You shouldn't be disabling unattended-upgrades unless you're very diligent with security updates yourself.
  - CoastalCoder 4y ago
    > You shouldn't be disabling unattended-upgrades unless you're very diligent with security updates yourself. That statement might be true regarding some users. But for many Linux users and installations, it's false.
    - Avamander 4y ago
      Why is it false? Those security updates are important and it's very nonintrusive.
      - CoastalCoder 4y ago
        > Why is it false? Those security updates are important and it's very nonintrusive. Not sure if this is a complete list, but here are some of my reasons: a) It's common for updates to contain a mix of security-fixes and other stuff. Sometimes that "other stuff" breaks things and/or needs vetting for deployed systems. b) Sometimes even "security fixes" break stuff. (I don't have the time to find examples, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.) c) Sometimes a forced restart of the system or a program is worse than a delayed update. For example, when giving a presentation, or when firefighting a production issue. d) It's absolutely an attractive attack vector. I want time to hear about problems before installing updates. And finally, this might not resonate with everyone, but: e) It's my system. Nobody else gets to override my choices for how it runs. Full stop. I refuse to cede my agency in this area of computing.
Avamander 4y ago
That's a fairly recent addition, after a very long time without any notifications and abysmal handling of a running application. These issues were handled slow and dismissively, the current solution is still half-baked. It's yet another good example how bad Snap is.
timbit42 4y ago
Auto updating is only one of the multiple problems Snaps create. Read the other comments here to see many of them. I can't wait for Snaps to crash, burn and die.

josephcsible 4y ago

If that goes on for 2 weeks, doesn't it kill the app and update anyway?

mesebrec 4y ago
If you ignore the notifications for two weeks, yes. But you even get a notification at least four hours before updating saying you have little time left. That said, if you run `snap hold firefox`, it will wait indefinitely.
- bauruine 4y ago
  Not updating isn't a solution. What works for me is a systemd service that does a snap refresh on boot. At least I have some controll on when it updates.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - bobmaxup 4y ago
    I know it is simple to do, but care to share the unit file?
    - bauruine 4y ago
      It's the most basic file possible but it does it's job. cat /etc/systemd/system/upgrade-system.service [Unit] After=network-online.target [Service] ExecStart=/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/snap refresh && apt update && apt upgrade -y' [Install] WantedBy=default.target
- magicalhippo 4y ago
  The problem is that the dialog says to quit the application so snap can update, but snap doesn't do that. It checks a few times a day and bails if the application is running. It doesn't wait for the application to exit and then update, like the dialog indicates it would. Thus you quit the Firefox, wait a few minutes, assume it has been updated because why shouldn't it, and after two weeks it gets killed mid-session. Completely inexcusable UX...
  - Zuiii 4y ago
    I've encountered this exact issue: It kept bugging me to close firefox so that I can update. I closed it. Then I relaunched it and the message popped up again. I repeated this process for a couple of days until I gave up, uninstalled snap, and installed flatpak. Issues like this are present in a lot of highly-opinionated software; they become utterly unusable when used in a way that deviates from the dev's ideal vision, or ways they plain just refuse to support. Configurability and transparency is almost always a good thing in software. It seems that some Devs will have to relearn this lesson the hard way.
    - josephcsible 4y ago
      For the record, the solution to this is to run "snap refresh" manually right after you exit Firefox.
justsomehnguy 4y ago
Are you the same people who bitched when Win10 just restarted to install updates? Yes this comment has a little malice in it.
- josephcsible 4y ago
  What do you mean "just" restarted? Isn't killing one single program a subset of what happens when your computer restarts? And isn't 2 weeks a lot more lead time than Windows gives you?

m463 4y ago

it is extremely hard to disable or remove tracking or auto-update stuff on ubuntu. (snapd, unattended-upgrades, ubuntu-report, whoopsie, ubuntu-advantage-tools, motd and more)

mesebrec 4y ago
You turn automatic snap updates off by running `snap hold`.
Avamander 4y ago
You shouldn't be disabling unattended-upgrades unless you're very diligent with security updates yourself.
- CoastalCoder 4y ago
  > You shouldn't be disabling unattended-upgrades unless you're very diligent with security updates yourself. That statement might be true regarding some users. But for many Linux users and installations, it's false.
  - Avamander 4y ago
    Why is it false? Those security updates are important and it's very nonintrusive.
    - CoastalCoder 4y ago
      > Why is it false? Those security updates are important and it's very nonintrusive. Not sure if this is a complete list, but here are some of my reasons: a) It's common for updates to contain a mix of security-fixes and other stuff. Sometimes that "other stuff" breaks things and/or needs vetting for deployed systems. b) Sometimes even "security fixes" break stuff. (I don't have the time to find examples, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.) c) Sometimes a forced restart of the system or a program is worse than a delayed update. For example, when giving a presentation, or when firefighting a production issue. d) It's absolutely an attractive attack vector. I want time to hear about problems before installing updates. And finally, this might not resonate with everyone, but: e) It's my system. Nobody else gets to override my choices for how it runs. Full stop. I refuse to cede my agency in this area of computing.

Avamander 4y ago

That's a fairly recent addition, after a very long time without any notifications and abysmal handling of a running application. These issues were handled slow and dismissively, the current solution is still half-baked. It's yet another good example how bad Snap is.

timbit42 4y ago

Auto updating is only one of the multiple problems Snaps create. Read the other comments here to see many of them. I can't wait for Snaps to crash, burn and die.