Why is there only one Snap Store?

#1

Post by reddotX » Wed, Aug 12, 2020, 6:45 AM UTC

Why is there only one Snap Store?
merlijn.sebrechts.be

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#2

Post by ISL » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#3

Post by entropicdrifter » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

they bundle all of their dependencies inside the snap, so even if the projects the snap depends on makes breaking changes and you update your system with those changes, the snap will still work. Snaps also update on the fly without user interaction, which some people like and other people hate.

Personally, I think Flatpak makes more sense than Snap. Snap's all tied up with Canonical

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#4

Post by barrkel » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:50 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

A mounted FS per installed application so you can run different versions side by side.

I like it for large standalone apps, less so for command-line utilities. It easily beats untarring some third-party thing to /opt.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#5

Post by justaguy88 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:50 PM UTC

What does snap do that flatpak doesn't?

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#6

Post by programmarchy » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:51 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

Main benefit is the sandboxed app environment. Snaps are also bundled with their dependencies, so you don't need globally installed dependencies to run the app like you do with apt.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#7

Post by simion314 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

From my understanding the new packaging is designed to move the control from the distribution maintainer to the developer. So depending on software and distribution you get a range of advantages and disadvantages. You can continue using apt, snap, flatpack,Stram and binaries from tar.gz so we only gained in choices.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#8

Post by rolph » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

Debian user here, who has apparently missed the memo: What do snaps do that apt doesn't?

for one thing snaps use a closed source back end

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#9

Post by war1025 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:58 PM UTC

Semi-related:

Does anyone else feel like Ubuntu has lost a lot of its momentum over the past few years? I don't hear about things they're doing nearly as often anymore.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#10

Post by gjsman-1000 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

justaguy88 wrote: post #5

What does snap do that flatpak doesn't?

Well, if you are building an IoT Device, lots of stuff for reliability. Automatic rollbacks, self-repairing, immutable FS...

For a desktop user, honestly, very little.