Snap v Flatpak v AppImage - In Depth Pros & Cons of Universal Packaging

Time to weigh in on an issue that seems to have more heat behind it than it should. What are the pros and cons behind each of the universal packaging systems for Linux?

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:21 History of packages
3:39 Old OS, new software
6:09 AppImages
9:02 Update download sizes
10:26 Snaps
15:20 Flatpak
16:37 What I use
17:42 Performance
19:09 Conclusion

Links:

[NeptuneSega]

Personally, we win either way. We can get the software we want, one way or the other. As much as people like to complain, they cannot deny that this has brought significantly more software to “Linux”. New users are at a convenience these days, and makes switching easier for Windows / macOS users.

[fuseteam]

this has a pretty good unbiased in depth overview of snaps
+1 for the mention of the launchpad case

[BrittYazel]

+1 for Flatpak 🙂. Flatpak has changed the Linux ecosystem for me personally and professionally as a scientist.

[xanrerkazuki]

Not a one myself but i love elementary os users, always chill and cool with everything that the others rage about.

[catriona_drummond]

This is one of, if not the most, useful videos about Linux that I have ever seen as a bloody noob, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

[fuseteam]

for those curious about a con of traditional packages regardless of update cycle:
you give any third party app full root access at install time
appimages and flatpaks solve this by not requiring root access at all
snap mitigates it via strict confinement

[Dreigo]

I prefer the "containerized" nature of newer packaging technologies. As someone who works in IT, it is very frustrating to have to make sure dozens of dependencies are updated. Granted this comes from a Windows background (as most corporate settings are) but the same is true for Linux repositories too. You can't be sure the repos are always updated to the version you need.

[sohrobby]

The fact that there is this lack of a universal packaging format, that's easy to use and doesn't ask the user to compromise in some way, is a major flaw in the Linux computing experience.

[sharedknowledge]

Great video and topic. I haven’t seen this covered so uniformly. Most videos are “why flat packs (or snaps or app images) are best” with little respect given to competing options let alone discussing traditional repositories. The Mint team dropping snap support has especially made this a timely issue.

[MrArseniypet]

My choice is an appimage. Whatever distro I boot I use the same application there's no need to install. And by the way, telegram appimage has a built in upgrader, so it upgrades itself very well. The other important thing is that I can stick with any version of app I prefer, easier than with flatpak or snap.

[AnzanHoshinRoshi]

Thank you, IG. I prefer to use the APT package, then flatpaks, then appimage or build it.

[Felipe-gzuy]

You should try Silverblue. This distro fits this philosophy perfectly. A solid OS layer separated from the apps layer with atomic updates and rollback. Plus toolbox gives all the flexibility need to work with dynamic temporary ambients using containers.

[LazyLain]

Maybe it’s because i’ve been a lifelong Mac user, but Appimages definitely appeal to me the most. And to me, the update issue is actually secretly a pro rather than a con, even if it is mildly inconvenient/inefficient. I like having specific versions of apps frozen in time.

[michaelplaczek]

I like Native (if updated) >Flatpack>Appimage>Snap

[blueice]

on Manjaro KDE, there are no theming issues. They all adapt to the default theme. And I love it. KDEs on other distro's come nowhere close to how Arch based distros does it.
And idk if it's my nvme or not, but no matter the source, all my apps launch instantaneously.

[nevoyu]

My only issue with snaps is how long it takes for them to load, outside of that I think they're likely the superior option just due to the effort Canonical put behind them to get stuff on snapcraft

[kuhluhOG]

10:08 the main reason why flatpak is slower than snap, is probably because flatpak decompresses the packages after receiving them while snap doesn't

[philipthatcher]

Great overview of all the options. Very well done.

[adamyork]

Very well thought out. I pretty much have come to the same conclusion on all points.

[TheIntervurt]

I think the nix package manager is also worth mentioning.