Ask HN: Thoughts on the universal Linux packages called “snaps”?
1 comments
There's also Flatpak on openSUSE (inter alia).
Personally, I'm torn. This will introduce the possibility for developers to distribute self-contained applications like dmg on OSX, but it will also create potential security problems.
Since the code won't be vetted by the distro maintainers, each "blobbing" system will have to ensure proper sandboxing and it will be up to authors/distributors that included libraries are kept up to date with regard to vulnerabilities.
On the other hand, many less expert users will be able to simply download and use their favourite program without much fuss. Moreover, applications that can't be built on OSes on account of library versions will simply carry their dependencies around.
Personally, I'm torn. This will introduce the possibility for developers to distribute self-contained applications like dmg on OSX, but it will also create potential security problems.
Since the code won't be vetted by the distro maintainers, each "blobbing" system will have to ensure proper sandboxing and it will be up to authors/distributors that included libraries are kept up to date with regard to vulnerabilities.
On the other hand, many less expert users will be able to simply download and use their favourite program without much fuss. Moreover, applications that can't be built on OSes on account of library versions will simply carry their dependencies around.
How about performance?, anyone have experience working with this as a developer? (I'm a designer), share your thoughts!
I recently installed the Spotify Snap [1] on Ubuntu and was really easy and works flawlessly.
Snaps Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snappy_(package_manager)
Snaps website: https://snapcraft.io/
[1] https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Linux/Spotify-now-has-a-Snap-package-as-well/td-p/4220931