Proposal for Ubuntu 20.04LTS

I kinda like the way Kodi does it. Where you can have standard / advanced / expert settings depending on your choosing. Similarly, you could have a toggle in system settings that enable the more advanced settings (tweaks integrated rather than stand alone).

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I meant in a general sense. IIRC, when some Vega GPUs (I think it was the Radeon VII) came out, people had to install the mainline kernels just to get their displays to work properly, and I think it took months (19.10, I think) before Ubuntu was able to support it.

I think you’re confusing “snaps start slower than debs” with “snaps are slower than debs”. The former is true, the latter isn’t.

It is true that snap startup time is an annoying issue, but the useful parts far outweigh this problem in my use case anyhow. And I know Ubuntu knows and it’ll eventually get fixed.

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Well, the kernel team needs some time to stabilize, make sure backported code doesnt regress and do all the QA of the added ubuntu sauce on top of the kernel tree. typically a kernel package gets frozen 1-2 months before release… if new HW comes out in that time frame it is simply hard to get support in before final release (sometimes it works via SRUs though, if the changes are not too massive like with the above bug report that @emanuc pointed to for example )…

that said … if support for the card landed in 19.10, you should also very soon be able to use the card on 16.04 and 18.04 by using the hwe kernel (which gets backported from 19.10).

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Yes, when I say “snap is slow”, I mean the first launch of application in the session.
But it’s very annoying because like many, I often start/switch off the PC and therefore the first start of the software must be fast.

However, even if Snap was at the same level as flatpak in terms of launch speed (which I remind you is absolutely not the case), it wouldn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t impose a universal package by default in a distribution. Flatpak, Snap and AppImage must remain an option/alternative.

Otherwise totally unrelated:
The linux kernel of the 20.04LTS will be version 5.5 ?
And Gnome 3.36 ?

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Anecdotal of course, but I’ve been switching my production workflow to snaps (I’m a 3D modeler, so that’s Blender and Inkscape) and I have yet to find an issue with them.
On large, professional applications where you’re expecting them to use large resources no matter the version, the snap has virtually the same memory usage; and startup times are literally the exact same as the deb packages for both of those applications (I tested them). Plus the added benefit of less complexity to the end user (as a non techie, I always hated having to use the CLI or adding PPAs, seems archaic IMO).

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not to forget that you give a random dude or gal 100% root access to your system by adding a PPA … :slight_smile:

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I understand your concern, but to me it looks like you are not capable to understand what sandboxed and universal packages can give back.

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I have already said it many times: universal packages like flatpak, snap or appimage can be interesting for software that are difficult to install in normal times but this is not the case for known software like LibreOffice, Chromium, Firefox etc…

I understand that you don’t want to change your mind about Chromium but at least I hope that in the future you won’t impose new software as a default snap package in future versions of Ubuntu.

It would be nice not to make the same mistake as Chromium with other software, i.e. not to remove a deb package and replace it by force with a universal package.

It’s your own opinion, we read you fine the first time, it’s getting very tiring to read your anti-change-things-were-perfect-before-and-must-not-changes rant every day. Discourse is a place where we aim at having constructive discussions about the work happening on Ubuntu, it’s not an user forum. Can you please move on to have those ‘what-I-think’ statements posted somewhere else so we can go back to have technical exchanges?

Thanks

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I think that great would be providing Flatpak support by-default in Ubuntu 20.04 or at least providing up-to-date Flatpak package during the LTS lifecycle (Flatpak support can already be easily enabled by searching for “flatpak”, then installing a Flatpak add-on for the Software app, but Flatpak package itself is outdated; using a PPA is not a good solution suitable for regular users).

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(not sarcastic) This could be a case where a snap is useful, to keep something always updated. So, how about snapping flatpack?

Reminds me of a joke my friend said years ago, “I Bing Google. I Google Yahoo. I Yahoo Bing”

Get rid of Nautilus. One of the worst file manager that I aver used.
That is my only request.

Thank you

Seria bom deixar o dock do ubuntu mais compacta, aqui está a alteração que fiz no css

With all due respect I find it a bit unfair to forcibly test snap technology on users when you’re aware of their slow performance and theming issues. I mean, you know it, but you care to test rather than provide a flawless experience. That’s a bad Microsoft-like practice.
What’s the problem with debs by default, but snaps for those who purposefully want to test this technology? A matter of dialogue window or a switcher in Software setting?
I see a rationale behind your explanation regarding the inclusion of Gnome Tweak, but Snaps-by-default-from-Store is pretty much the same. Even more: snaps are configured to frustrate user’s experience by default, but Tweak tool first should be deliberately fiddled with in order to devastate user’s desktop.
I’m just trying to find logic here.

I think perhaps you’re living on a different planet from the rest of us if you think the entire Linux desktop ecosystem is a panacea of perfection, and this wart called “snap” is the only blight.

Wake up call time! There are bugs all over every application shipping by default in Ubuntu for years. Same for every distro. Let’s not sugar coat this.

There are some bugs in a non-default application on a non-LTS release of Ubuntu. We are working on fixing those bugs so users who arrive on the 20.04 LTS have less of a bad day than the adventurous types who ride the 6-monthly wave of non-LTS releases.

We have had some engineers working on this, there’s a thread started recently on the snap specific forum. I’m sorry to punt you over there, but that’s where the snapd and snapcraft engineers hang out. Apologies.

“debs by default” means engineering time has to be spent making the deb in order to deliver it in the distro. I have explained why the snap exists in some detail, frankly and honestly, on our blog. I apologise if you’ve seen it before. It does detail why.

https://ubuntu.com/blog/chromium-in-ubuntu-deb-to-snap-transition

It isn’t the same at all.

Tweak tool can render your desktop unusable, like black-screen-no-desktop unusable. Just by pressing a few buttons. Nobody needs that. Nobody wants to arrive at work on a Monday after fiddling around with settings on Friday and find they can’t do their job. That sucks.

A non-default browser on a non-LTS release, which is a bit slow to start sometimes and has some other bugs which we need to fix, isn’t in the same ballpark.

I hope I have found some for you. :slight_smile:

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Oh, I’ve never had an intention to do that.

The point is, snaps are useful as a way to deliver apps that are not available or hard to get otherwise. But providing Gnome Calculator snap, which is obviously (true for all snaps) slower than regular app packaged as deb, is … what? I don’t know. Tech showcase? Deb version is still available in repos, what’s the purpose then? Anyone can compare launch time for each of them.

To me your reply sounds like there’s a HUGE and SCARY bug in Calculator app’s deb package and that’s why it should be substituted with Snap analogue for the God’s sake. Sorry I didn’t mean chromium that you’ve mentioned as “non-default browser”. I was talking about pre-installed apps like Calculator or Chars.

Anyway, thanks for the explanation and links, I guess I will find time to read them all in order to not feel like a silly sausage. :smile:

I think it’s time to end this meandering thread.

Folks, “wish list” threads are usually hijacked by one or two items on the list (like this one was), the rest of the list quickly forgotten in the noise.

Please try to keep threads to a single topic.

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