Today, June 14, 2016, Canonical informed us that they've been working
for some time with developers from various major GNU/Linux
distributions to make the Snap package format universal for all OSes.
As many of you who are using Ubuntu might know already, Snap is a
secure, easy to install, and confined package format that lets
developers distribute the latest versions of their software
applications as soon as they're out. For Ubuntu, it is an alternative
packaging format for Debian's .deb binary packages.
Snap is an innovation from Canonical created specifically for the
Snappy technology used in Snappy Ubuntu Core, a slimmed-down version
of Ubuntu designed from the ground up to be deployed on various
embedded and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Starting with Ubuntu
16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus), Canonical launched the Snap packages for the
desktop and server too.
"Developers from multiple Linux distributions and companies today
announced collaboration on the “snap” universal Linux package format,
enabling a single binary package to work perfectly and securely on any
Linux desktop, server, cloud or device," said Canonical. "This
community is working at snapcraft.io to provide a single publication
mechanism for any software in any Linux environment."
"Snaps already work natively on Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu"
At the moment, we're being informed that the Snap package format is
working natively on popular GNU/Linux operating systems like Arch
Linux, Fedora, Debian GNU/Linux, OpenWrt, as well as Ubuntu and its
official flavors, including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu
GNOME, Ubuntu Kylin, and Lubuntu.
Shortly after today's announcement, other major GNU/Linux
distributions will adopt the Snap package as a universal binary format
for their users. Among these, we can mention openSUSE, Linux Mint, Red
Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and elementary OS. Of course, any other
distros not mentioned here can also adopt the Snap format easily.
Canonical already demonstrated that it is easy for application
developers to package their apps in the Snap format, so now it will be
a lot more easy to distribute it on any major Linux kernel-based
operating system out there, greatly simplifying the distribution of
third-party Linux software.
Of course, Snaps will not replace the default package format used by
the respective operating systems. They are available only to
complement them, to make the distribution of certain open-source or
closed-source applications available in the Snap format for all
GNU/Linux operating system who will adopt it.
Popular software like Mozilla Firefox, LibreOffice and Krita are
already being in the process of becoming Snap packages. "With the
introduction of Snaps, continually optimizing Firefox will become
possible, providing Linux users the most up-to-date features," said
Nick Nguyen, Vice President of Product, Firefox at Mozilla.
Krita 3.0 digital painting tool was launched earlier this month as a
Snap package, which Ubuntu users can install on their operating
systems. "Maintaining .deb packages in a private repository was
complex and time consuming, Snaps are much easier to maintain, package
and distribute" said Boudewijn Rempt, project lead at the Krita
Foundation.
If you are an application developer who wants to distribute his
project as a Snap package for any GNU/Linux operating system who
supports Snaps, you're invited to visit the snapcraft.io website.
Also, don't hesitate to take a look at the press release below for any
other information regarding Snaps as a universal binary format.
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