Is ubuntu-software going to be remove for snap:snap-store?

To avoid getting trolls that post FUD based in only reading the topic title (and avoid posting in circles), I suggest adjusting it to match the latest discussion.

i’m not sure why @wojciech-kudla’s post was flagged, i didnt see anything trollish in his text … we made a controversial change … like we did throughout our whole history, starting with naked people on the wallpapers in 2004 (that got never released as default due to complaints), through spatial file browsing in 2005 … fast forwarding to unity … mir … snaps …

people always got upset with such changes since day one of Ubuntu and i think we should not quieten the critics but allow ourselves a chance to convince them …

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Thanks, yes I’m aware of the fact one can purge snapd but the fear is that it will break other stuff down the road or prevent users from installing some features that Canonical decides to make snap-dependant.
Also, deciding to not give the option to disable updates because: “… (users) don’t understand the implications of their actions” is a bit arrogant thing to say.
There are power users among us and we’d rather decide on our own.

Thank you for supporting my right to have an opinion. I too have no idea why my post was flagged…

You can change It from " Download and Install automatically " to " Display immediately " through Software and updates > Updates. This is for security updates.

well, it isnt like you dont have any control at all

https://snapcraft.io/docs/keeping-snaps-up-to-date

it is just that you will eventually have to install that security fix that is waiting to protect you from someone stealing your banking data :wink:

as power user you can manage updates, delay them until a time that is convenient for you within the next two months etc … but yes, eventually we want this security fix to land on your disk which is the reason behind the current design … it is a matter of security first after all … (note that you could relatively easily hack something up with i.e. tinyproxy to block snapd from talking to the store, this would effectively turn off all snap updates until you allow it in the tinyproxy setup) :wink:

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I couldn’t find option to edit my previous comment so will re-word it here hoping it doesn’t make any uncomfortable…

I don’t completely understand why people compare this to Windows 10 as if that’s a bad thing

This is the very reason why we’re here using Linux. We wanted to escape Windows questionable design choices and just enjoy the amount of control Linux gives to its users.
This is unexpected coming from a team contributing to Linux ecosystem.
I hope we won’t see forced restarts in the middle of our work as the next step.
Acknowledging your users and their suggestions can take you a long way. I personally think it’s more productive than making a statement that we don’t understand the implications of our actions.
Whether my system gets updates or not should not be your decision to make.

I’ve said this a number of times in various places. Please stop stating a fact of why you use Linux as a fact of why everyone uses Linux. It doesn’t help the argument at all. Just because you don’t like automatic updates, doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t. For every vocal person here complaining there’s hundreds of thousands who aren’t.

We’re adding support to suppress updates of running applications. You can already try it out, it’s explained in this blog post. https://snapcraft.io/blog/experimental-feature-snap-refresh-awareness-and-update-inhibition.

Don’t think we don’t listen to the feedback. We may not act on it immediately. Because, frankly you’re not the only voice. There’s plenty of other stakeholders in Ubuntu who have differing opinions on how the system is built and maintained. Indeed, I have conversations with people on various teams based on the feedback we get all the time. It’s part of my job to take this feedback and bring it to the teams.

I started a thread just yesterday over on the snapcraft forum (because the snapd and snapcraft developers hangout there more than here) to have exactly this type of conversation. As ogra says, we’ve made some controversial decisions in the past, none of which resulted in the end of the world. It’s just software, we can likely fix it. :slight_smile:

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Your original post gave out the vibe of being strongly opinionated hence my reaction.
I’m really happy to learn this has not been entirely dismissed and there will be options for users who want to retain control over the updates.
Thank you!

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Yes, many people choose Linux to escape Windows. But it doesn’t mean that everything Windows does is wrong. Nor that Ubuntu should do everything completely different than Windows.

Also, many of us wanted to escape Windows to have options. We didn’t like that in Windows, it is the MS way or the highway. Linux offer the user options. What would be the point of having options if every Linux distro does things in the same way?

I happen to like the direction Ubuntu is taking. But if you don’t, there are always alternatives, that’s the beauty of Linux!

Also: having the opportunity to chat with the developers and express our opinion is another clear difference with the Windows way. I am very grateful of this, and I always try to remember that and be respectful of the great work they are doing. I may not always agree with their decisions (it is easy to disagree from the confort of my sofa), but I don’t doubt of their good will.

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And because of the open nature of development for Linux that you invoke I’d rather voice my concerns and have a positive impact than migrate off my favourite distro as you suggested.

Sorry, it wasn’t my intention to suggest you to migrate off Ubuntu. And I am also sorry if my comment came as too aggressive (I guess I may be expending too much time in Reddit’s Linux subreddit).

I do sense a lot of animosity against snaps and other decisions the Ubuntu dev team makes (not from you, but in general) and I think people forget that:

  • The dev team are doing their best and they do listen to user feedback.
  • Sometimes, to advance a project in a meaningful direction, controversial decisions must be taken and
  • we can’t all agree with every decision.
  • And, as a last resource, open source Linux gives us other options.

Bug reports are very much appreciated!

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Please file a new bug. I’ve seen some missing icons, but it doesn’t feel like many. We should get to the bottom of that.

I reported something similar, I think it is the same bug: Bug #1873281 “apt packages have a generic icon in Snap-Store” : Bugs : snap-store-desktop

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The icons and screenshots missing from the Snap Store might be related to the change into using AppStream, a common repository of software package information.

The Debian project is managing AppStream, and I suppose Ubuntu AppStream will inherit it?

There is a https://appstream.ubuntu.com/ website that shows information on the current status.
I do not know whether there is a need for help to fill in package information.

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@kenvandine

I tested the installation of .deb files again and I think I’m hitting the “sharing files to a snap via temp” issue: https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/sharing-files-via-tmp/1613/26

When I open the .deb files from the browser, I get the “Failed to install file: not supported” error but they work correctly when I download them to Home and then open them via Files.

Since this version of the snap store should only run on Ubuntu 20.04, maybe you can use files portal for this? If I’m not mistaken, the main issue with the files portal was that you couldn’t be sure that the host bits required for the portal to work were installed and/or recent enough.

This will be fixed by https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1623631

That landed today in the 78 tree, should make a big difference.

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What is the “this” you’re referring to? Just to be clear, I’m using Firefox from the apt repositories.

The snap store cannot install .deb packages when I choose “Open With… Software Install” from Firefox itself. I think this is because Firefox downloads the .deb file to the tmp directory, which snaps do not have access to.

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Snap store don’t open .deb files at all.

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snap-store from the latest/stable/ubuntu-20.04 channel does. What channel are you on?

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