Aug 22, 2018
The Beauty of Snap Packages
Snap packages are a great step forward for software packaging on Linux systems. They cut out the unnecessary steps during software installation and keep uninstallation and installation processes clean and unintrusive. They're simply essential!
Do you think that mankind can develop a universal concept, a model so to speak of Absolute Law, of Absolute Truth? (The Sacrifice, 1986)
Finding a universally efficient way to do things can prove a challenge in many aspects of life: human relations, diplomacy, running a country, etc. This is also true in the world of computer code. Developers are split over spaces and tabs, dark and light themed editors, GUI vs CLI, the battles are endless. If there’s one thing that really shouldn’t be a headache but usually is, it’s installing software. Depending on what linux distribution you use, there are a number of dependencies that will need to be installed for certain software to run and this can be very frustrating at times, especially when you have to keep up with different versions of the dependencies. It becomes an even tougher task when the software needs to be installed on less obvious devices such as drones. These challenges and more are what led Canonical to rethink how to package linux software. Enter Snap Packages.
Snap Packages are a great solution to this convergence(similar experience on different platforms and devices) problem. Unlike other packaging systems such as .deb and .rpm, snaps contain all of the software’s dependencies which saves the user the hustle of finding and installing these dependencies.
Enabling Snaps on your System
To enable snap packages on your linux system, open your terminal and type:
sudo apt install snapdAdd /snap/bin to PATH
In case snap hasn’t been added to the PATH bash variable, you’ll have to add it manually and then you’ll be good to go.
export PATH="/snap/bin:$PATH"Find a snap package of your choice
The next step is to find a package that you would like to install. The website Snapcraft.io houses a growing catalogue of snap-packages software such as VS Code, Android Studio, Spotify, Telegram, and more. If you’ve read my article on Installing Android Studio, then you’ll appreciate just how much Snap Packages makes life easy.
Here’s how you would install android studio using snap:
$ sudo snap install android-studio --classic That’s it, one line and you have everything you need. It’s incredible.
List snap packages installed on your system
To view all the snap packages installed on your system:
snap listUninstall a snap package
Uninstalling a snap package is also a breeze.
sudo snap remove telegram-desktopSnap packages are a great step forward for software packaging on Linux systems. They cut out the unnecessary steps during software installation and keep uninstallation and installation processes clean and unintrusive. They’re simply essential!