Question

7

Is it true that Snap has proprietary server?

rated 0 times [ 7] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 4159 / 3 Years ago, mon, august 23, 2021, 4:53:58

Are there proprietary elements of Snap server? Is it possible to run Snap-based distribution independently of Canonical?

I am quite disliking Snap for multiple reasons (one of things that I like most on Linux is that I can install/uninstall things with apt-get, snap does not have even decency to provide direct help on snap upgrade).

But the most worrying thing that I heard is that Snap has proprietary elements, making it fully Canonical-controlled.

See for example https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-canonical-views-the-snap-ecosystem-as-a-compelling-distribution-agnostic-solution/

Martin Wimpress, engineering manager for Snapcraft at Canonical at that time:

Snap store is proprietary

https://www.happyassassin.net/posts/2016/06/16/on-snappy-and-flatpak-business-as-usual-in-the-canonical-propaganda-department/

the server end (the 'app store' bit of the equation) is closed source, and Canonical have been refusing to tell anyone how to run their own 'app store' (...) it is entirely controlled by Canonical

(and also describes how Canonical was lying about Snap)

But infoboxes in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_(package_manager) list open source licenses.

What is going on? Have they released Snap store as open source? Or is Wikipedia article incomplete/damaged by Canonical employees?

I am quite worried, especially given that Ubuntu started making basically impossible to avoid Snap on Ubuntu. On the other hand I would prefer to have good reasons to switch Linux distribution, not just based on outdated blog posts.

Answers

Only authorized users can answer the question. Please sign in first, or register a free account.

tialmes

Add To Favorites

Follow

Total Points: 14

Total Questions: 108

Total Answers: 102

Location: Oman

Member since Thu, Jun 16, 2022

2 Years ago

tialmes questions

1 Ubuntu 22.04 netns with veth connected to bridge unable to ping gateway

Mon, Jul 12, 21, 14:03, 3 Years ago

1 Make multiple copies of one file with different names

Tue, Feb 7, 23, 19:21, 1 Year ago

1 Removing cloud-init from Minimized Server marks important network packages for removal

Tue, Aug 9, 22, 14:12, 2 Years ago

1 How can I use bash to replace a string in a file from another file

Sat, Jun 19, 21, 05:11, 3 Years ago

1 Git Terminal in Linux

Tue, May 10, 22, 18:28, 2 Years ago

View All

answered 3 Years ago rcraftemur · Accepted Answer

The Snap Store is run and controlled by Canonical and is not open source. The rest of Snap is open source, meaning the daemon and core software. How threatening this is depends on you POV and has been the subject of much discussion. E.G.

"Snap v Flatpak v AppImage - In Depth Pros & Cons of Universal Packaging" on youtube.com

Linux Mint forums, e.g. this thread

Noting that Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu) bans installations of snaps by default (with a hint of how to enable their installation).

As a Linux newbie myself, I've just finished researching snap issues after finding the (LM) program manager doesn't list any snap packages. What I found was that adopting a firm line approach may sever dependency on the Snap Store but replaces it with another problem - in my case missing or receiving out of date packages installed using the Linux Mint package manager:

The (LM) PM installed a 10.x version of node instead of the current 16.3.1 LTS version,

The nodepad-plus-plus working snap package for Notepad++ (natively available under Windows) was simply not listed. A Linux version (notepadqq) can be installed - and I did - but is not a substitute for using the original.

This is where pragmatism and life expectancy comes into play: personally I enabled snaps to install notepad-plus-plus, with which I have decades of experience and consider a "must-have", but would search extensively before installing snaps simply because I can. FWIW I'm not sure if installing node from binaries by running the archive manager GUI as root was a good idea, but it got the job done.

TL;DR

Yes, the Snap store is controlled by Canonical. Whether that is sufficient reason to compel a move away from Ubuntu is a matter of personal opinion and beliefs, and heavily depends on how and why you select and use snap packages in general.