Not sure what others are doing to use Ubuntu (23.04) without snaps, but this is what I am doing:

  • for Firefox I found a guide here
  • for chromium I am actually using the Linux Mint packages (which work absolutely fine), and I have just set up a small repository I can add to apt:
deb [arch=amd64 allow-insecure=yes] http://snapless.cmeerw.net victoria upstream
  • this just syncs from Linux Mint and only republishes chromium in the Packages file (with downloads redirected to a Linux Mint mirror). BTW, I am not signing these…

What are others doing?

  • PriorProject@lemmy.world
    42·
    2 years ago

    I do nothing.

    • I use the Firefox snap. It takes like 800 extra milliseconds to start up on my 10y old laptop and it moves my profile dir. It otherwise impacts my life not at all and is just fine. If it ever bothers me, there PPAs, flatpak, or a dozen other ways to install Firefox that are all perfectly simple.
    • I install other stuff from flatpaks or PPAs or using docker.

    The angst around snap is inscrutable to me. There are 30 million easy ways to install software and they all work on Ubuntu. There is nothing in my life that’s easier to ignore than snap.

    • wheels@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 years ago

      I’m basically doing the same, but those “pending update, close the app to avoid disruptions” popups are kind of disrupting.

      • PriorProject@lemmy.world
        23·
        2 years ago

        … those “pending update, close the app to avoid disruptions” popups are kind of disrupting.

        I don’t exactly disagree that it’s slightly irritating but:

        1. No one declares war on an operating system the way snap haters have over a “restart to update” message. It’s an irritation, but it’s not an irritation proportional to the response snap gets out of people.
        2. Restarting to enable an update or complete an update is not something unique to snap. Except for a tiny number of very advanced live-patching systems like the one some kernel updaters use, every updater either nags you to shutdown to do the update, nags you to restart to finish the update, or doesn’t nag you and the update just doesn’t take effect till you restart (apt falls in this category and it’s not unambiguously better than nagging because you’re silently vulnerable when security patches are shipped until you restart). So again, this is just an extremely unremarkable thing that tons of updaters deal with similarly.
      • PriorProject@lemmy.world
        3·
        2 years ago

        Tell me more about why I care that snap is setting up loop devices and not that docker is setting up virtual ethernet devices and nftables chains. System tools do system things, news at 11.

        I say again, this impacts my life not at all and there is nothing easier to ignore than snap.