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Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

jatan.blog

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Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#121
post #82
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gnome has been replicating the worst parts of windows (the registry comes instantly to mind) since the release of Gnome 3.

gconf is like the windows registry how? is it just because its a centralized config store? how evil is an annotated, easy to use, non archaic file that some apps put their settings into?

it must be evil because Microsoft did it. Weird that they copied everything else Windows did and people didn't mind.

There's way more evil things about Windows, like click to raise and menu bars.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#122
post #115

If you're looking for an alternative to Ubuntu but want to stick with a Debian-based distribution, I'll continue to recommend Debian testing. It's a rolling release, so you don't have to stop what you're doing every 6 months - 3 years to install a huge update that changes the way everything works. It's more stable than the name would suggest, as long as you follow a few reasonable best-practices [1]. Software availab…

Is there any stable way to go Ubuntu -> Debian?

I don't want testing. Stable is fine.

I find each version of Ubuntu worse than the previous. It's change for the sake of change, and as in this case, something really thoughtful like .deb gets replaced with something which appears slapped together poorly.

I just want a stable, working system, and Ubuntu seems to no longer be the way to have that.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#123

> Auto-updating of snaps can only be deferred at best, until at some point, like Windows, it auto-updates anyway. Even on metered connections, snaps auto-update anyway after some time. This attitude is obnoxious. Yes, not everybody is on a metered connection or running a mission-critical system, but some are, and it is hardly unreasonable to accommodate them.

This is a hard problem. And Microsoft didn't have a choice. Given an option regular users will never update their computers, perhaps partly due to fear of what they don't understand, fear of change, or maybe due to past bad update experiences. I witness this in my mom with technology all the time. Every time there's a popup she mini-panics, and she has trained herself to click close every time she sees something she…

The customer is always right. Say it with me.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#124
> Browsing the Snap Store sucks

Yeah a lot of the software you see in the store is legacy software that seems to be stuck on an older version. Also many of the items are lacking a screenshot and a comprehensive description of what the software does. I find myself using the store to discover software and then go to the software's official website (usually on Github) and install it the oldskool way by doing:

    ./software.deb

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#125
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wish all software would auto-update silently in the background -- when's the last time you even thought about upgrading Chrome? Updating everything has always been one click in Ubuntu (and I'm sure there's an option to have it go automatically). > The author of this article claims it's too difficult to find Flatpak apps and that the Ubuntu software center prioritizes Snaps over .deb. Are platforms never allowed t…

This is getting OT, but could you elaborate on your issues with systemd? I’m genuinely curious. I often see people complain but haven’t seen or experienced specifics apart from it being complex and having higher learning curve than initd. (I don’t know if you’ve tried MX Linux BTW; Debian derivative without systemd by default) I will never defend pulseaudio though, that’s a horrible mess.

Systemd gives you less control. I used to pipe stderr to email, cant do that with sustemd. The journaling system is very slow compared to plain text files. Systemd overwrite mounts made by ip netns. Network settings is complicated with systemd. Not all bad though, setting up services is easy, and it has never failed to start a service for me so far, and it do start services in the correct order, which is all it should do imho.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#126
post #71

Can you still install debs with apt command line? I started to ignore ubuntu's attempts at a graphical app store long ago.

yes, and the stupid thing is you get a second copy of the application, different version, different UI, seems very broken

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#127
post #98

> Auto-updating of snaps can only be deferred at best, until at some point, like Windows, it auto-updates anyway. Even on metered connections, snaps auto-update anyway after some time. This attitude is obnoxious. Yes, not everybody is on a metered connection or running a mission-critical system, but some are, and it is hardly unreasonable to accommodate them.

I guess it's finally time to switch to Arch. This is an absolute deal breaker for me as well, as I use an ubuntu system for live visual performances, and I need to ensure that no unexpected auto-updates take place.

if you like Ubuntu and stability go debian. edit: the downvotes are fascinating. if you do LIVE performances and even remotely care about stability Arch is the last distro you should use. its a great distro but its bleeding edge by design. part of the fun of arch. contrarian views should be expressed with words if possible because id like to know what universe some of you are from..

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#128
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

18.04 is supported for three more years. Maybe that will be my Ubuntu countdown.

18.04 has a ten year extended security maintenance life AFAIK, so you could stretch to 2028.

Wow, that's seriously impressive if true.

As many others I haven't liked vanilla Ubuntu since they swapped Gnome 2 for a (what I think is a) clone of the Mac OS interface, but my desktop still uses the Ubuntu 18.04 base system under the hood so this might come in handy for a number of people like me.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are linux users regular users?

What if your goal is to bring Linux to the masses?

That boat sailed long ago. Windows has a pretty decent linux subsystem now. Even devs that were hardcore linux enthusiasts moved to windows.

The benefit of linux is that it doesn't force stuff on you that you can't disable compared to windows. If you take that away, there are very little reasons for any normal user to move.

Re: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it

#130

Maybe I'm in the minority but I like Snaps. I wish all software would auto-update silently in the background -- when's the last time you even thought about upgrading Chrome? The author of this article claims it's too difficult to find Flatpak apps and that the Ubuntu software center prioritizes Snaps over .deb. Are platforms never allowed to migrate to a new standard? Why is it Canonical's fault that authors of indiv…

My two cents, you don't have to agree but thought I'd just add a different perspective. I prefer my own package manager (pacman) over snaps for the following reasons: 1) I like to upgrade on my own schedule. I use my computer for work, and I cannot have things break in the middle of the day or in the morning, just as I get started with work. I usually save upgrades for when I less things to do, so that in case stuff…

> I like to upgrade on my own schedule. I use my computer for work, and I cannot have things break in the middle of the day or in the morning, just as I get started with work.

You can arrange snapd to update on your preferred schedule. What you cannot do is defer updates forever.

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