SNAP IS CRAP! 20-year Ubuntu user saying "bye bye"

[werewulf75]

If it works I really couldn't care less whether it is deb, snap or flatpak.

Yeah, I second that. If it does the job, who cares? "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is a healthy principle.

[TheFu]

Yeah, I second that. If it does the job, who cares? "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is a healthy principle.

If it worked perfectly, you are right. Nobody would care. But snaps don't, not for everyone. What then?

Or if it uses 20% more CPU and 20% more RAM on a system that is restricted in RAM, CPU and storage? Now that system cannot perform the same tasks it has done for years.

Linux has always been about the users having control. If the OS doesn't do something the way we need, we are used to working around that to get what we need/want. Snaps block that far too often. That's the complaint. If snaps were optional, we wouldn't be so vocal. Heck, I removed Firefox (snap) and get Firefox ESR (non-snap) to use for a browser. That isn't really a big deal. It is all the things where there isn't an easy replacement. It is great that you don't know about those issues, but many people do and are highly dependent on certain workflows that aren't possible due to snap constraints.

[Tadaen_Sylvermane]

Linux has always been about the users having control. If the OS doesn't do something the way we need, we are used to working around that to get what we need/want. Snaps block that far too often. That's the complaint. If snaps were optional, we wouldn't be so vocal. Heck, I removed Firefox (snap) and get Firefox ESR (non-snap) to use for a browser. That isn't really a big deal. It is all the things where there isn't an easy replacement. It is great that you don't know about those issues, but many people do and are highly dependent on certain workflows that aren't possible due to snap constraints.

Said control extends to various distros with different goals. No one is locked into Ubuntu. May be more difficult to switch for some than others but that is part of the technology game. I don't get the hate only because no one is forced into it. You don't like it, they aren't holding you hostage. Door is there, people just need to walk through it. Beats sitting around beating a dead horse about something that they have no control over. Once Ubuntu went commercial, which has been a benefit in a number of ways it also came with baggage.

[garethjenkinsuk]

There are some problems with snap. For several years I used Inkscape to work my vinyl cutter. When I upgraded to Ubuntu 24.04 I installed Inkscape as a snap. The vinyl cutter no longer worked. Many hours spent trying to sort the issue out. Finally uninstalled the snap, installed Inkscape using apt and the cutter started working again. Conclusion: there are real problems with some snaps not working properly.

[lammert-nijhof]

I use Ubuntu since 8.04 LTS. I love snaps and I have a good reason! I run the latest stable snaps of Firefox; Thunderbird and LibreOffice in Ubuntu 16.04 ESM and it did run out-of-the-box.
Occasionally Ubuntu 16.04 ESM runs newer application versions than Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, especially for LibreOffice.

I run it in a VirtualBox VM for my banking with a 20 GB disk and 2 GB of memory. The VM runs in the 2nd slowest Ryzen ever, the Ryzen 3 2200G; 16GB DDR4 and from a 2019 nvme-SSD.

[Shibblet]

One of Linux's greatest strengths has always been the major cause for division.

The reason we have so many different distributions is because different people like doing things differently.
Arch has a very different way of installing packages than Debian, as well as Fedora, and SuSE.

Heck, just look how packages are handled within the Ubuntu Branch of Linux distributions... Mint has a different storefront than Ubuntu, and Pop_OS, etc.
.DEB, APT, YUM, PACMAN, PAMAC, etc.

Now, we have Snap, AppImage, and FlatPak.

The best part of these, as far as I can tell, is that you can run all of the above on any Linux system by just installing the new package manager. From what I understand, you can install FlatPak on Ubuntu, and Snap on Fedora.

So, if you think "Snap is Crap," I'd urge you to try a distribution like Manjaro, EndeavorOS, or Garuda. All of which are Arch based, and can install packages from "all of the above."

And the only reason I'd say that, is that Ubuntu has certain packages that are forced as a Snap. Firefox and Chromium are the first that come to mind. So, if an application that you truly want is only available in Snap, and you can't use that... sounds like you really have no choice but to find a distribution that does.

[TenPlus1]

Thankfully for users who with to avoid snaps we have Linux Mint 22 which is still based on a stable ubuntu 24.04 base and has apps like Firefox, Thunderbird and Chromium supplied in .deb formats in the repository.

[Shibblet]

Thankfully for users who with to avoid snaps we have Linux Mint 22 which is still based on a stable ubuntu 24.04 base and has apps like Firefox, Thunderbird and Chromium supplied in .deb formats in the repository.

I really wish Mint had a KDE variant. I really prefer FlatPak's to Snaps... But I can't do the Gnome or Cinnamon at this point, I'm married to KDE.

[#&thj^%]

I really wish Mint had a KDE variant. I really prefer FlatPak's to Snaps... But I can't do the Gnome or Cinnamon at this point, I'm married to KDE.

If Ubuntu can so let it be said Mint Can
info: https://linuxiac.com/how-to-install-...linux-mint-22/

Plasma is my second choice, xfce first....

[poorguy]

As a home computer user I don't have any complaints with Snaps they seem to work okay for what I do.

I guess if I was an IT person running servers and such I guess I could understand the dislike for Snaps.

I learned enough about Snaps not to download the not tested and not certified Snaps.

I learned enough about Snaps to keep them updated and maintained.

I get the feeling Snaps may be around for awhile so I figure might as well learn to use them.