Why is there only one Snap Store? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#151

Post by cjaybo » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:24 PM UTC

donor20 wrote: post #100

1_person wrote: post #67

That reminds me of the stake Ubuntu Core was born with in its heart: > An Ubuntu SSO account is required to create the first user on an Ubuntu Core installation. They just keep flinging shit at nothing and hoping to hit a wall they can build a gate in. They're trying to boil the frog slowly with Snap on the Server/Desktop branches. There is no possible genuine motive for these maneuverings to be in the position of ga…

Wow - strong language. Can I ask - do you contribute meaningfully to any open source packages? Do you buy software at a significant commercial level? I've noticed this sort of total absolutest, outraged, scorched earth style sometimes comes from the free riders. At least in some businesses I've worked with - if you can eliminate customers that approach things in this way your staff are happier, your life more relaxed…

So is it safe to assume that you have no meaningful response to the parent poster's criticisms of Canonical's strategy?

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#152

Post by bboozzoo » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:26 PM UTC

acgkmopvvgvmgv wrote: post #119

It's not for nothing that Snap is considered dangerous by SUSE and is not officially supported. They even fail basic upstream responsibilities. https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3906 > A year later, in the Ubuntu 20.04 package base, the Chromium package is indeed empty and acting, without your consent, as a backdoor by connecting your computer to the Ubuntu Store. Applications in this store cannot be patched, or pinned.…

> It's not for nothing that Snap is considered dangerous by SUSE and is not officially supported. They even fail basic upstream responsibilities.

Care to provide a link to support your claims?

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#153

Post by galgalesh » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:27 PM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #10

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.

Actually, even for desktop Snaps have some advantages.

First of all, the fact that you can put a system service in a snap: The OpenPrinting project is working on creating a snap which contains the entire Linux printing stack. This is so users of older distribution releases can still use the latest printers.

Secondly, the Snap sandbox is a lot more granular than the Flatpak sandbox. Flatpak went for portability and Snap went for granularity. Snap uses AppArmor to mediate existing Linux kernel api's. As a example, you can give a Snap access to joysticks and controllers but deny it access to a USB webcam, for example.

XDG Desktop Portals should make it possible to safely use certain host features such as a webcam in a Flatpak, but this requires applications to be rewritten to use the portals api. In the current state, most Flatpaks disable large parts of the sandbox because the applications would otherwise not be able to run in it.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#154

Post by galgalesh » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:28 PM UTC

AgentME wrote: post #98

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That reliability stuff sounds good on desktop too. I don't exactly enjoy re-running apt after it has mysterious failures halfway through installs.

`snap revert app-name` is a lifesaver..

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#155

Post by cjaybo » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:28 PM UTC

marmada wrote: post #116

commoner wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making plenty of unfounded assumptions about the parent poster's personal character. One is not obligated to contribute to open source packages or pay for high-price contracts to provide feedback on a company's software on a public forum. (And the server portion of Snap is closed source.) Just because Microsoft and Google do worse does not mean that Canonical cannot do better.

Open source contribution is not a requirement for providing feedback but people who actually understand the industry are more legitimate in most people's eyes.

This is a discussion about Canonical's strategy, which happens to involve technical products and services -- it is not a technical discussion. I see no reason to think that someone's software development chops would correlate with their ability to meaningfully contribute to this discussion.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#156

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:30 PM UTC

unixhero wrote: post #135

coreblocks wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I think it’s simpler than that. The Linux desktop experience is just terrible... I have never successfully installed a Linux distro without having to fiddle with some boot flag or some config file. Every major Linux desktop environment has been unreliable at best. Software support is fragmented across dozens of distros. I think WSL has been the biggest win for Linux on the desktop, but ironically it’s on win…

What year is this? Linux desktop experience is fantastic in 2020. It has been for several years. That's bordering FUD you're spreading.

My experience aligns far more with parent's than yours. The Linux Desktop experience is still pretty garbage.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#157

Post by jamesponddotco » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:31 PM UTC

kevin_b_er wrote: post #138

jamesponddotco wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not require snap, it is just the default way to install it. You can compile it yourself, or check the repositories of your distro of choice otherwise. I think Arch has it in their repositories, for example.

On ubuntu it requires snap if you want it prepackaged.

Sure, but that does not mean you cannot run LXD on Ubuntu without Snap.

I compile new versions, test it out in staging, and then ship the update to production servers, which is currently a mix of Ubuntu, and OpenSUSE.

Do not get me wrong, I do not like snap (or flatpak for that matter), and would much prefer if LXD was available through a PPA, or the default Ubuntu repositories, but LXD itself does not require snap, it is just the default distribution method.

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#158

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:31 PM UTC

Izkata wrote: post #147

vladvasiliu wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Snap is auto-updating and you can't stop it [0]. I actually liked the idea of the snaps on paper, especially combined with Ubuntu Core for running lightweight VMs (via LXD). But the tone on that exchange and the "we know best" attitude put me off it. I have an Ubuntu 20.04 installed for tests on one of my home machines, and from time to time I catch doing who knows what. What tips me off is seeing the drive light goi…

> Snap is auto-updating and you can't stop it Kill the daemon and make it non-executable. Only restore it when you want to manually do an install.

What is this, Windows 10?

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#159

Post by galgalesh » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:31 PM UTC

ISL wrote: post #2

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

Provide a recent version of Arduino on debian-based systems ;)

They're mainly useful for applications which either release too fast or too slow compared to regular distributions. The apps contain their own dependencies.

Another advantage is for messy applications. I'd much rather run Wine applications inside of a sandboxed snap than pollute my base system with all the multilib stuff that's required for wine.

For more information; I also wrote a blogpost about why things like Snaps and Flatpaks are useful for Open Source apps: https://merlijn.sebrechts.be/blog/2020-07-06-why-snap-flatpa...

Re: Why is there only one Snap Store?

#160

Post by galgalesh » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:32 PM UTC

vffhfhf wrote: post #75

Is this another whining post? Here is what I think. Ubuntu actually works. Wont crap out every other month. Most stable OS for linux are all ubuntu based. Even Snap works. So why is there only one snap store? Coz if there were more, they would be crap/dogshit like 99% of linux OS are. Go back to what ever OS you like. You are not needed. Useless free loaders.

Author here. Read the post.