Ubuntu Snapped: No More Flatpak Support

21 thoughts on “Ubuntu Snapped: No More Flatpak Support”

• 👍 for you. 👎 for ubuntu

• My god, what a load of bs!
  Decision to take away Firefox as a deb and only provide a snap was a decision made by Mozilla, not Ubuntu.
  Ubuntu has done more then any other player on the Linux scene to grow the usage of Linux, both on the server and destop.
  What Ubuntu realised is that the next step must be to cater to the needs of the corporate market and the low knowledge mass market, if Linux should have a chance of growing to something bigger than a toy for bearded nerds. This is why Ubuntu is fond of it's snap packaging system, if you think outside you desktop. Ubuntu supports not only desktop version but also Server, iot and clusters. Flatpak does not work for server and not even for the large portion of your desktop os. It is really focused on gui application and nothing else and the rest is installed via some kind of old fashioned packages that lacks security and can easily infect your system as they are installed with su privileged and without any sandboxing. Flatpak and appimg are also sandboxed, if you want them to be an in that lies a risk.
  It's also a risk to let anyone set up a snapserver and distributing infected code. That would not give us a better chance to make Linux mainstream.
  Ubuntu's long term goal is to make the whole of the installation snap based that will give you an outstanding security and automatic updates on your whole system. This is a killer argument for normal aunt Jenny or corporate customers to move to Linux on the desktop and it would give Linux a fighting chance to be shipped on computers in the store. This would benefit us all, with greater numbers of commercial applications ported and more money invested in the Linux platform itself. No, Ubuntu will probably not be the favourite platform of the tinkerer in the future, but there are plenty of other ditros to use for that. With this in mind, you probably understand Ubuntu better but to make a fuzz about installation packages is childish. Some do it the Arch way, some the Debian way. Not important, choose the os that you are comfortable with and get on with it.

• Sure, snaps are technically better than flatpaks. And sure, Mint disabling snaps by default is also silly and childish. But this is like Canonical are actively trying to reduce Ubuntu's userbase.

• [Me looking at all the Ubuntu haters down below]
  Hey guys, it been awhile! How's it going? I hope you guys are still enjoying your separation from reality and bashing things.

• Ubuntu has become the Freddy Kruger of the Linux world. Very sad.

• Im Using Both Flatpak and Snap on Tumbleweed but i think App image is the Future

• For me, Ubuntu Desktop became essentially irrelevant to me once Flatpak started growing. Debian+Flatpak is enough for me at this point, as I don’t have any new hardware for drivers to matter and most new software I want has been packaged in Flatpak. If not, most software has some sort of Debian instructions, and compiling from source remains a final option in all cases, irrespective of the Linux operating system in question.

  I don’t need Ubuntu’s modifications to get a system I want to use. Ubuntu/Snap remind me of Windows S editions, where the only software you can get is through their App Store. Yes, I know under the surface that is absolutely not the case on Ubuntu, but from a new, desktop-only user’s perspective, they do begin to resemble each other in terms of exclusivity over software.

  Linux was meant to be about openness. Ubuntu forcing Snap and stopping Flatpak from being an installation default by the various flavors feels like an organization drifting away from that openness and more like an exclusive ecosystem. I also wonder if any flavors might end up dropping out of the program as an eventual result of this and similar choices being made by Canonical.

• I just started doing flatpack on MINT 21 to install telegram, synology, and others. It works great.

• Nothing makes me smile better than installing a distro I don't know that much about, and seeing a toggle for Snap support that is NOT on.

  Except maybe not seeing a Snap support toggle at all.

  I don't understand the reasoning that a huge Snap (or even Flatpak) package install is better as default, rather than starting with repository versions first, and the option to install the big stuff as needed for compatibility. There's no other way to describe it than mandatory bloat. I thought Linux was all about easy choice, but this looks like a play right out of the Apple and Microsoft manifestos. This philosophy is apparently put out there by people who play with the latest spacious hardware, not older limited machines like some of my stuff. I have one particular laptop that doesn't play nice with most Snaps I've ever tried, but it does fine with all of the Flatpaks I've tried. I'm sure others have stories in the opposite direction.

  What turned me from Ubuntu flavors a couple years ago is 1) the proprietary aspect 2) too many Snap malfunctions 3) I've got enough people in my life telling me what I need to do.

  I'm really enjoying BigLinux.

• I've installed latest version of Manjaro and snapd and pamac snap support weren't installed by default.
  I think Manjaro just changed it

• UBUNTU has totally LOST IT– they're SCREWING THEMSELVES every way they go!!!! Oh well– don't need them any more anyway..

• Someone should fork Ubuntu and make the fork similar to Debian, but of course use Zypper and btrfs, and portages.

• Dictating the flavors not to support Flatpak out of the box is pretty bad. There really is no upside to it for the user. It also shows weakness: not having enough confidence in your own product (Snap) that it can win the competition based on merits, Canonical clearly feels like it needs to force Snap to the user. First by removing packages from the repositories and doing a sneak-install of Snap (like Firefox), now by forcing the user to take an extra step to use Flatpak. It is this behavior which makes me urge new users to not choose Ubuntu but pick another distro.

• My 2 cents — True, this is not a big deal, but it grates and makes me seethe some. A bit of a rant below;
  First, they remove Synaptic from the ISOs to push users to the Ubuntu Center. No biggie, just install Synaptic and you have CHOICE again.
  Next, they sneakily replace DEBs with Snaps via APT with no warning to the user. A bit of a PITA, ones needs to go hunt up the DEBs and side-load. You still have CHOICE, albeit with a bit more effort.
  Now, they remove Flatpak and COERCE the community spins to follow suit. This is BULLYING and a thuggish behaviour that does not belong in FLOSS. But, hey, no biggie, just sudo apt install flatpak and you have CHOICE again.

  Why would Ubuntu be bothered engaging in herding their users like this for so many years?
  I have a theory, a potential suitor for Ubuntu would be a whole lot more interested if Ubuntu has a goodly population of metered users and are married to a central software store. Snaps!
  Yeah, just can't shake the feeling that Ubuntu's founder and management are still trying to structure that company for acquisition. I know their server side paid model is significant and has decent monetary value , but a metered userbase(via Snaps use) add so much more value.

  Anyway, am sure glad Mint's around and is seemingly doing well. Please support these folks. I do.
  Support via word of mouth, a kind word to their devs and support people(via hexchat) and money if possible.

  Mint = Ubuntu done right, listening to their users and adhering to FLOSS ideals.
  Mint LMDE = Debian cooing into Clem's ears, "You complete me" 😁

• soon your gunna hear: Ubuntu…….. brought to you by pfyzer

• The way I see it they're slitting their own throats. 🤷‍♂ They're starting to sound like Microsoft……………..arm twisting.

• Time to dump Ubuntu!

• WHAAAATTTT? I just discovered flathub. So much better than the software store and the horrid snaps

• Appimage is the BEST anyway!

• I don't like Ubuntu or Ubuntu base distro.

• Never had any problems with flatpack

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