Canonical Announces Cross-Distro Support for Snaps
Ubuntu Vendor tries to solve app packaging and distribution problem across distributions.
Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu, announced cross-distro support for Snaps, a new package management system developed by Canonical. Although both Red Hat and SUSE have said they didn’t collaborate on the project, Canonical says it worked with developers from Fedora, Arch Linux, and Gentoo to take Snaps beyond Ubuntu.
Linux is in need of a different approach to software packaging and deployment. Even Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, is not happy with the current situation. He didn’t offer binaries of his SubSurface diving log software for Linux desktop, whereas binaries exist for Windows and macOS.
Dirk Hohndel, the maintainer of SubSurface, explained, “The current situation with dozens of distributions, each with different rules, each with different versions of different libraries, some with certain libraries missing, each with different packaging tools and packaging formats... that basically tells app developers 'go away, focus on platforms that care about applications'.”
Red Hat and SUSE have expressed misgivings about Snaps, citing the Contributor License Agreement (CLA) requirements by Canonical as a potential deal breaker.
Red Hat is reportedly backing Flatpack, another Snaps-like approach to app distribution on Linux. This is not the first time Canonical is at odds with the larger Linux community. Similar conflicts have erupted previously, such as Upstart vs systemd and Mir vs Wayland.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.