Hey everyone! I'm trying to get my head around Snap and Flatpak. Can someone break down what these two packaging formats are all about and highlight the differences in how they're used?
1 Answer
Both Snap and Flatpak are packaging formats designed to work on any Linux distribution, meaning they’re distro-agnostic. Snaps are developed by Canonical, and while the format is open-source, the Snap Store itself is proprietary. They started out primarily for server applications but later added support for GUI apps as well.
Flatpaks, on the other hand, are community-driven, with Flathub being the most popular repository for them. Both formats are open-source, but Flatpaks are strictly for GUI applications.
Many users express frustration with Snaps due to:
1. Performance issues—many applications like Steam and Firefox have had problems when run as snaps.
2. On Ubuntu, snaps often replace native packages, which means if you try to install an app that has a snap version, the system might automatically use that instead of the native version.
3. The proprietary nature of the Snap Store is also a big turn-off for some users.
Is there a way to install apps on Ubuntu without reverting to Snap packages?