No Snaps for Linux Mint 20

Linux Mint are actively preventing the end user from installing Snapd package manager and Chromium on their system. I can’t understand their reasoning behind the decision, other than they always seem to want to do the opposite to Canonical and Ubuntu.

How to enable Snap installation in Mint:
$ sudo apt install snapd

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#LinuxMint #Snaps #Chromium

[SwitchedtoLinux]

I stand with Linux Mint on this decision because there are valid reasons to not want to use Snap, and Ubuntu base and making that nearly impossible to avoid. Mint does have Flatpak, which replaces nearly every package that snap could. I have a lot of videos talking about issues with snap, and I did show on my recent one that Chromium as a snap, and Chromium as a manual install do theme differently.
Here are my summarized concerns:
1.) Snap distribution is propriety
2.) Most Snaps are NOT created by the software developers, and many of the snaps are not even connect to Cannonical
3.) Snapcrafts own posts when malware got in there doubled down suggesting that they are shifting to a model where they "Trust the developer, not the code"...
4.) And then link to big companies like Microsoft as 'trusted developers'.
These are my primary reasons for not wanting Snaps, and I am glad my preferred OS has my back for keeping them off the system, while providing a way to enable them if I want. That is choice, and why I came to Linux!

[SupaKoopaTroopa]

I uninstalled snapd for the following reasons:
1) My computer boots 10 seconds faster without running snapd.service and having to mount all the snaps
2) I use gnome-calculator a lot, and the snap version takes about 5 seconds to launch for the first time, while the APT version launches almost instantly
3) My laptop doesn't have very much RAM, and snapd always uses like 20-30MB which could go to opening more tabs in a browser, or something.

[JAYpatel]

Snap store is proprietary that's the problem most users have. And on top of that snap sends telemetry back to conical which the end user does not have any control over.

[dragonballjiujitsu]

I agree 100% with Mints decision about snaps. Someone needed to take a stand and Mint is big enough to do it. Snaps are slow, buggy and Ubuntu is trying to force them down ppls throats. As for the chromium situation just install chrome. Don't like chrome try Vivaldi, its far better than chromium. If Canonical/Ubuntu were not trying to force snaps on ppl we wouldn't be having this now would we?

[ahmedhalim]

I'm not in any way, shape or form an advanced user but one of the main reasons I ditched Windows for Linux is that I don't like to have stuff shoved down my throat, I like to install what I want, update whenever I want, not have a service run in the background hogging the bandwidth for half an hour, that's Windows-type shit!
so I'm quite proud of how Clem and the Linux Mint team are handling the situation.

[stationsixtyseven]

I see it like this: There is Debian with it's apt package manager and .deb files ...Ubuntu forked and transformed the 'Testing' versions, set up their own repos and innovated in the directions they chose to go (because, you know: Linux = Free Open-source Software, right?) ...Mint forked and transformed Ubuntu, offering codecs OOTB with a legal disclaimer, and later offering a version with their own DE's instead of Unity (Some hated Unity and some loved it ...personally I loved it): They forked a fork and innovated in the directions that they chose to go, rolling back or changing Ubuntu stuff ALL THE TIME (because, you know: Linux = Free Open-source Software, right?). Now they've chosen to reverse an Ubuntu decision to favour Snaps over .debs in a lot of cases. I honestly don't see what the beef is about: some folk don't want Snaps and some folk DO want snaps, Mint gives folk an alternative yet again. It's something Mint has always done, and those that love snaps will stick with Ubuntu and those that don't will stick with Mint. Why all the tears? It's not like Ubuntu is a closed-source proprietary OS. This is GNU/Linux: This is what happens!

[kk-linux-rocks]

I'm glad they've taken a stand with respect to Snaps. However, even though they will document a way to get snapd installed, it would have been far better to simply allow users to choose whether or not they want to install snapd, separately via: sudo apt-get install snapd

[DePhoegonIsle]

Honestly, for a linux system.. being unable to have someone audit the packages should be a real concern.

I use windows for my own reasons, but I do consider snapd an exceptionally large security flaw as it runs as root and you can not source the snap package & thus can never know what it does exactly. seriously, all it'll take is one infected snap package & suddenly everyone is compermised & no security system can stop it... Snapd is able to bypass all security & do with the files as it wants, when it wants.. despite your security settings.

people say windows security (by default) is swiss cheese, but snapd on linux is more like a packaged shaped hole to the core of your entire system with no protections or safeguards.

There is problem by design, when a 3rd party tool runs with system/root privledges no matter the os, & even far larger problem when that tool can thus just ... run any old 'package' without any permission checks or restrictions.
-- Seriously, snapd should be broken into mini pieces, where only as much as is ever needed runs as root, & the rest runs as the logged in user (or assigned user) or less, which will enable safegaurds, and actually have file system permissions mean something, outside that snap container.

[ChadWilliamson]

Personally, I'm with the Mint devs on this one.

[MarkHobbes]

I don't blame Linux Mint decision. To be honest, I agree with them and understand why they have done this... I have several reasons to avoid snap and here are some of them:
1 - Snaps are mostly huge in size;
2 - Snaps need a good internet speed to download MB to GB of stuff due to the problem shown in 1;
3 - Snap isn't completely open source;
4 - Snap has built-in telemetry. Aren't you the guy who care so much about privacy?
5 - Snap updates in the background and you have no full control over it. I repeat once again. Aren't you the guy who care so much about privacy?
6 - Snap take a long time to open and affects system performance;
7 - Snap slows down boot process;
8 - Accentuation, plugins, applets, codecs can be missing (or not working properly) in some snaps -- this also can happen with flatpaks;
9 - Snap doesn't integrate properly and this is the reason for many issues in this list;
10 - Not all snap channels are reliable and some snaps are not official (even though Canonical says they are -- it's their product so they're going to advocate for it anyway). These unofficial snap packages are not recognized by the official software creator. I repeat. Aren't you the guy who care so much about privacy?
11 - Snap depends on systemd to work. This is a problem for snap itself, because you can't use it on a distro that doesn't use systemd and it shows us that snap is not really universal;
12 - Snap is centralized to Canonical;
13 - Snap doesn't recognize all themes, so themes might look broken or not coherent at all;
14 - Snap packages consume more RAM;
15 - It has root privileges to run and do whatever they want. I repeat. Aren't you the guy who care so much about privacy?
16 - Security. Snapcraft cares more about the developer/publisher than the code itself and it can lead to malware and other security issues. Well, I lost count. Aren't you the guy who care so much about privacy?

I think you should take some time... just to think things through.
Linux Mint has done the right thing. I agree they could have done it differently and less aggressively, but I agree with their reason to do it.

[rufuspilula]

I agree with Mint devs on this. I just think they should have made a GUI option for allowing snaps in their welcome app. Also, when you fail to install snapd from the terminal you should immediately be given a command to run to bypass this.
It would also be nice if they made a “Chromium downloader and updater” app (or use one of the existing ones) which would be installed instead of the blank package.
Mint is a good distro because it tries to be as user-friendly as possible, so I assume they’ll address these issues soon. I don't mind them blocking snaps, I just think a more obvious option to enable them should be added. I find snaps/flatpaks/appimages to be very useful for desktop users who aren't really tech literate and don't want to think about PPAs.

[MrHashisz]

Install Spotify's snap package, then go ahead and install Spotify's deb package. Open them and literally see the difference! Snaps make my nvme drive feel like an IDE! I complained about speed back in 18.04 and they said by 18.10 it would be fixed. Here we are now with Ubuntu shoving shit down our throats like microsoft.

Mint has taken the right decision, you're just incoherently out of sync with end-users the same way Ubuntu is.

[richardchantlerrico]

It sounds like the blocking of Snaps has been to fulfill users wants for an OS that doesn't install snaps behind their back. That is a legitimate reason it block it by default as long as they offer a way to remove the ban easily, though I agree the chromium situation could be done better.

[IgnoreMyChan]

My god, quidsup you are so narrow minded about end-users. Not everybody works like you do.

[ryann]

I agree with Mint's decision. They explain why, it's a good reason, and they provide clear, simple instructions for those who want to use Snap anyway. The user CAN install it if they want. There are also alternative ways to get Chromium

[andynl]

Hey quidsup: like your content! Lots of good stuff. But in this case, your rant in favor of Snap package manager is wrong. Linux Mint is doing a really great job and kudos to them.

[sasdthoh]

I have to chime in on this subject. I am primarily a Debian based OS user and have been for a very long time. with that said, I enjoy testing and experimenting with many Linux OS choices available. I think they are ALL fine distros. If you want a snap based system, then use a Linux OS that supports that platform like Ubuntu. For me, the Debian package manager has worked fine all these years and I choose to use it for myself. A good friend of mine wanted to try the latest version of Ubuntu so I helped him to try it. He likes it and is very happy with it. Hey, this is Linux folks so choose what you want and use it. And for the record, I think Mint is a fine Linux OS. If you are happy with something then use it and do not worry what others say. PEACE ! Paul

[alexstone]

I personally dont like snaps, that aside they forbid snaps to be installed cause they are automatically installed every time you install package like chromium

[thatoneuser]

Never needed to use snap packages anyway. Pretty sure they’re more trouble than worth.

[Rcbeacon]

Is Canonical turning Ubuntu into their own desktop version of Android.
Some users won't care how the OS works or what it's doing - and they won't care who provides it or controls what's going on in the background. I wonder why they are using Linux at all. Think beyond Chromium - it doesn't matter how well it integrates. Snaps may be a good theory but as a Linux only user I don't want Canonical turning my computer into a desktop version of Android where I'm under their control, tied to their app store and have pieces of their proprietary code lurking in the background.
I've been using Kubuntu desktop and Ubuntu server exclusively for 10+ years and I think it looks like time for a change to Mint.
I use Firefox, not Chromium, but I installed Brave as an alternative browser for occasional checks and now I've got snap contamination.