Ubuntu 23.10’s App Store Will Block DEB Files When a Snap Is Available
Canonical continues to push forward with its adoption of snap, revealing .deb version of an app will not be available in Ubuntu’s app store if a snap is available.
Snaps are a packaging format that is designed to contain an app’s dependencies rather than relying on the system. In theory, this makes the app more secure, as well as easier to package for multiple distros. In practice, snaps are rarely used outside Ubuntu, with the competing Flatpak a more popular option.
Canonical isn’t backing down from pushing snaps, however, with plans to release a snap-based immutable version of Ubuntu next year. According to OMG! Ubuntu!, Canonical plans to push snaps over traditional .deb files in the upcoming version of its app store, even in the non-immutable version of Ubuntu.
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Ubuntu 23.10’s new software app will demote DEBs [Ed: Snap's back end is proprietary, so Canonical is trying to build a monopoly with non-Free software]
Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution but it’s increasingly positioning snaps as the preferred way to ‘get’ software. The aim is, eventually, to default to a full-snap experience on the desktop.