Snaps Every Mo Self-Contained, Auto-Updating, Universal Software Packages
There convey been several attempts to address this obstruction of deploying software across multiple Linux distributions. The latest such initiative, spearheaded yesteryear none other than the venerable Canonical Ltd, the Ubuntu developer, is Snapcraft. Snapcraft is the developer tool for packaging software inwards the universal snap format.
The residuum of this post explains how to purpose snaps, from a user rather than developer's perspective.
[2018-05-23 update] Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 snap from the official Snap shop was found to comprise hidden cryptocurrency mining code, as well as was since removed from the store. The word highlight the fact that the mere existence of a snap inwards the Snap shop does non guarantee its integrity. The lesson is to alone purpose snaps from trusted sources featured inwards the Snap store, such every bit the master copy software author, an official maintainer, or a trusted community source.
What are snaps?
Snaps are universal software packages that tin bathroom hold out deployed across the major Linux distributions as well as architectures including IoT. Although snaps is a format championed yesteryear the creator of Ubuntu, it is supported on all major Linux distributions including Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Gentoo, ArchLinux, Manjaro, as well as OpenSUSE.
Besides existence distribution-agnostic, snaps are also self-contained. Linux users are all likewise familiar amongst "the dependency hell", ie, the occasional extreme frustration experienced inwards software installation due to dependency issues. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 snap is self-contained inwards that it bundles the required runtime libraries within the package.
Once you lot install a snap on your system, it volition hold out auto-updated to run the latest release. You all the same tin bathroom manually whorl dorsum to a previous version of the software if you lot as well as thence desire.
In summary, snaps are universal, self-contained, auto-updating Linux software packages.
Install snapd
To hold out able to run snap packages on your Linux system, you lot must offset install
snapd, the service responsible for running as well as managing snaps. The next ascendence volition install snapd on a Debian system.$ sudo apt install snapd The Snap store
You tin bathroom search the relatively pocket-size precisely growing online Snap store for snaps to install. Alternatively, you lot tin bathroom search using the command-line interface:
$ snap respect firefox Name Version Developer Notes Summary firefox 59.0.2-1 mozilla - Mozilla Firefox spider web browser Why would you lot download the firefox snap when firefox is readily available every bit a DEB, via the Debian criterion repository? Similarly, chromium as well as libreoffice belong to the same category of software. The response is that, inwards most cases, snaps offering a much to a greater extent than recent version of the software than that from the native Linux bundle manager. For instance, Debian ix ("Stretch") packages FireFox 52 inwards its criterion repository whereas you lot tin bathroom instruct Firefox 59 every bit a snap.
The Snap shop features roughly snaps that are non available from the criterion repositories of major Linux distributions. Examples are ghostwriter as well as vidcutter. Instead of edifice such software manually, you lot tin bathroom download as well as deploy their corresponding snaps from the Snap store.
Below is a non-exhaustive listing of software available inwards snaps that I personally respect useful(or fun).
- Chromium
- Firefox
- Ghostwriter-casept (a Markdown editor)
- LibreOffice
- Minecraft
- Nextcloud
- OBS Studio (for screencasting as well as alive video streaming)
- Opera
- Skype
- Slack
- Solitaire
- Spotify
- VidCutter (a video editor)
To respect out to a greater extent than near a item snap, execute the next command:
$ snap information minecraft name: minecraft summary: Minecraft is a game near placing blocks as well as going on adventures. publisher: snapcrafters license: Proprietary description: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 game near placing blocks spell running from skeletons snap-id: aJQRf6WPQq04DH0TB2HdTB6K9rf6I1yX channels: stable: latest (11) 148MB - candidate: latest (11) 148MB - beta: latest (11) 148MB - edge: latest (11) 148MB - How to install a snap
Installing a snap is every bit slowly as:
$ sudo snap install solitaire If you lot don't convey root privileges, you lot tin bathroom silent install snaps yesteryear offset signing inwards to the Ubuntu Snap store. You volition take an Ubuntu One trouble organisation human relationship (which is free).
$ sudo snap login <your-email-address> $ snap install solitaire To listing the snaps already installed on your system:
$ snap listing Name Version Rev Tracking Developer Notes heart as well as soul 16-2.32.1 4327 stable canonical heart as well as soul skype 8.18.0.6 23 stable skype classic solitaire 1.0 two stable 1bsyl devmode To purge a snap from your local system:
$ sudo snap take away solitaire Note that the to a higher house ascendence volition delete all snap-specific information as well as settings.
How to run a snap
Installing a snap inwards most cases volition automatically practise a shortcut on your desktop card system. For instance, you lot volition respect an entry for the solitaire snap inwards the
Games sub-menu.Alternatively, you lot tin bathroom ever run the snap ascendence explicitly on the ascendence line.
$ snap run <your snap command> The caveat amongst the command-line approach is that the snap declaration may non ever hold out obvious. For instance, amongst the solitaire snap, the corresponding cite to purpose for the run ascendence is
solitaire.1bsyl, non solitaire. You tin bathroom respect out the specific cite to purpose yesteryear examining snap's bin directory:$ ls /snap/bin/ skype solitaire.1bsyl $ snap run solitaire.1bsyl
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