Snaps could be used as default Linux app packaging format

Oct 13, 2017 19:51 GMT  ·  By

The guys over elementary OS, the popular GNU/Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, were interviewed recently by Canonical's Sarah Dickinson on why Snap packages are right for their infrastructure.

As you are aware, there are three main universal binary packages available for GNU/Linux distributions, Snappy, Flatpak, and AppImage, and OS maintainers are free to implement which one they think it's best for their users, or even more of them.

In the interview, it was revealed that they want to adopt with Ubuntu's Snappy technologies to provide their users with a modern and secure confined app format because of the extra layer of security Snaps provide by design.

"The confinement that snaps offers provides an extra layer of security," said the devs. "Confinement means that we don’t have to spend a lot of time performing a security audit in order for developers to do this; we can both save time reviewing and keep our users safe."

Snaps could be coming soon to elementary OS

At the moment of writing, it would appear that elementary's devs did not yet manage to integrate Ubuntu's Snappy technologies into the current stable release of elementary OS, which is Loki (0.4.1), but we believe they could implement support for Snaps soon.

As mentioned in the interview, it would also appear that they're working on elementary OS 0.5, which will be dubbed "Juno" and will most likely be based on Canonical's Ubuntu 18.04 LTS operating system, due for release next year in April. However, this information is not yet confirmed by elementary.

Canonical also wants to ship Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with Snaps as default Linux application packaging format instead of Debian's DEB packages and APT package management system, though it probably won't be removed completely from the system.

At the moment, elementary's devs offer extensive documentation to third-party developers who want to package their apps as Snaps for elementary OS as Debian's packaging system can be confusing, according to them. elementary believes their users will also appreciate the security model of Snaps.

Update: The story has been updated to better reflect the fact that no decision was taken yet by elementary's devs to implement support for Snaps in elementary OS.

Using Snaps in elementary OS
Using Snaps in elementary OS

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