Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Nick @ The Linux Experiment's posts Post Back to profile
Nick @ The Linux Experiment

I already explained the main differences between most packaging formats, but now, it’s time to look at them in a more critical manner:
Performance benchmarks, missing features, advantages and drawbacks, for #Snaps, #Flatpak, #AppImage and regular good old packages:

#Linux #OpenSource

youtu.be/ikBPnYwnUMU

16 Nov 2023 at 16:36 | Open on mastodon.social
18 comments
datordžeks

@thelinuxEXP Slackware linux - no package manager - no hassle! Oh, wait.. ;D

16 Nov 2023 at 16:45 | Open on toot.lv
Steve0Greatness

@thelinuxEXP I don't see why people don't just compile all their software from scratch. /j

16 Nov 2023 at 16:48 | Open on mastodon.social
Julio 🏳️‍🌈 🇨🇺 🇪🇸 🇺🇸

@thelinuxEXP Wow Nick. Who knew this was a thing.

16 Nov 2023 at 16:55 | Open on c.im
dulsi

@thelinuxEXP I tried out building a flatpak. As a game developer, I'm disappointed that allowing access to controllers is only done by allowing access to all devices.

16 Nov 2023 at 17:18 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place
FOSStastic

bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sou

With Flatpak one can just do "flatpak override --filesystem=path" and the problem is solved.

In my opinion Snap's core design is fundamentally flawed. This starts with the fact that the sandbox is not mandatory and user-configurable (unlike Flatpak) and ends with the walled garden that doesn't allow for third-party repositories.

The main issue: I no longer know which distribution to recommend to non-technical people since Ubuntu started to enforce broken snap packages.

bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sou

With Flatpak one can just do "flatpak override --filesystem=path" and the problem is solved.

In my opinion Snap's core design is fundamentally flawed. This starts with the fact that the sandbox is not mandatory and user-configurable (unlike Flatpak) and ends with the walled garden that doesn't allow for third-party repositories.

16 Nov 2023 at 18:15 | Open on mastodon.social
FOSStastic

The issue why replacing Ubuntu is so difficult is that most supposedly "beginner-friendly" distributions, like Linux Mint, don't notify their users about new distribution releases or about the fact that the current release has reached end of life.

Since most users don't follow #Linux blogs, they might use an end of life OS for online banking without knowing that (security) updates have stopped.

#Ubuntu has had a release notification and upgrade tool since version 5.10: web.archive.org/web/0if_/https

The issue why replacing Ubuntu is so difficult is that most supposedly "beginner-friendly" distributions, like Linux Mint, don't notify their users about new distribution releases or about the fact that the current release has reached end of life.

Since most users don't follow #Linux blogs, they might use an end of life OS for online banking without knowing that (security) updates have stopped.

16 Nov 2023 at 19:40 | Open on mastodon.social
fabyk

@thelinuxEXP

My Lenovo Yoga L13 only has 512 gigabytes. It makes a difference if the flat packs take up 10 gigabytes after just a few programs. Somehow I can't get used to the format.

16 Nov 2023 at 18:17 | Open on social.tchncs.de
Random Tux User :fedora:

@thelinuxEXP
One big issue that you didn't mention (or I just missed it) is that you have no control over a snap. If a permission or the like is messed up in a flatpak, you can fine tune it till it works. Sure you're breaking the sandbox, but it at least works.

With snaps, if something is broken, it remains broken until the developer does something about it.

Also now flatpak theming is decent in KDE at least. Adwaita app by design are hard to customize, but the rest isn't difficult.

@thelinuxEXP
One big issue that you didn't mention (or I just missed it) is that you have no control over a snap. If a permission or the like is messed up in a flatpak, you can fine tune it till it works. Sure you're breaking the sandbox, but it at least works.

With snaps, if something is broken, it remains broken until the developer does something about it.

16 Nov 2023 at 18:46 | Open on fosstodon.org
Nick @ The Linux Experiment

@enthusiast101 You can change snaps permissions, but only with the command line, as far as I know

16 Nov 2023 at 19:00 | Open on mastodon.social
Random Tux User :fedora:

@thelinuxEXP
Oh I wasn't aware of that. I'm surprised it isn't talked about more. I've heard many people saying how snaps aren't meant to be modified by the user.

I even encountered an issue with the nextcloud snap that apparently couldn't be fixed due snaps making it hard to modify stuff. But that was probably a limitation of the system rather than snaps don't allow any permission changes.

16 Nov 2023 at 19:22 | Open on fosstodon.org
Rumble.com

@thelinuxEXP

no speed comparison to nix packages?

16 Nov 2023 at 18:55 | Open on mastodon.social
Homo Particeps

@Tim_Pool@mastodon.sociali dont think they would perform other than system packages
@thelinuxEXP

16 Nov 2023 at 19:58 | Open on fosstodon.org
gikkogkom

@thelinuxEXP

Hei Nick!
Why do you use a youtube link on the fediverse when you have the same video on neat.tube??? Isnt it better to use the possibility to let people see the alternative to youtube??

Othervise thank you for a lot of good videos from a Linux-user (3 years now) on a Tuxedo-machine, who cant use the terminal bit have no problem using a Linuxmachine. I can very little terminal, but every year I start my PC from scratch with a new installion, for security reasons.

16 Nov 2023 at 19:12 | Open on oslo.town
Nick @ The Linux Experiment

@gikkogkom Unfortunately, none of these other platforms let me make a living, so YouTube will be the link I share the most until that’s an option :/

I’d love to share Peertube links only, but a lot of people don’t find it very usable yet, and it would actually hurt the channel in the long run, and the business I built around it.

16 Nov 2023 at 19:38 | Open on mastodon.social
gikkogkom

@thelinuxEXP
Of course!! I was forgetting thats your living and your business.
Sorry!

I hope you can continue, but i mus admit that i am worried for people living on producing on Youtube in the long run 5 or more years in the future.....

16 Nov 2023 at 20:17 | Open on oslo.town
lebout2canap ⏚

@thelinuxEXP Speaking of AppArmor: “The Snap sandbox heavily relies on the AppArmor Linux Security Module from the upstream Linux kernel. Because only one "major" Linux Security Module (LSM) can be active at the same time, the Snap sandbox is much less secure when another major LSM is enabled. As a result, on distributions such as Fedora which enable SELinux by default, the Snap sandbox is heavily degraded.” (from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_(so)

16 Nov 2023 at 19:31 | Open on mastodon.tedomum.net
Scott Busby

@thelinuxEXP I'm avoiding Flatpaks and Snaps, and any distro which forces users to adopt them. They just want to lock people into their "Snap App store".

16 Nov 2023 at 19:43 | Open on sfba.social
Homo Particeps

@thelinuxEXP
Are you sure that the firefox (and all its dependencys) versions where exacly the same for all installation methods?

Ireally don't know how the results of the speedometer benchmark could be explained differently...

16 Nov 2023 at 20:05 | Open on fosstodon.org
Go Up