Not all technical decisions in the Linux world are made for technical reasons. In this post we will see How to install Snap packages on Linux Mint, which cannot be done by default simply because its maintainers decided to do so (from the drawers where they keep the distribution specifications)
In fact, the move makes sense, although not from a technical point of view. Its growth was produced by capitalizing on the discontent of users with some decisions made by Ubuntu. So they will continue to differentiate themselves regardless of whether the decisions of the parent distribution are good or not.
What are universal packages
Developing software is something that takes time and money. And, after it is developed, disk space will be needed. That is why, A dependency system is usually used. For tasks that are common to different programs, such as saving or printing a file, libraries that are already installed in the operating system or that the first program that needs them will allow us to install are used.
However, sometimes there are things more valuable than saving space or development time. This is the case when we want to use a program without having to install it, such as so-called portable programs, or we are interested in having the latest version of an application, but it is not compatible with the version of the operating system we are using.
In this case we will have to resort to the so-called universal packages. These packages contain everything necessary to run the application, so they do not make any changes to the operating system. We refer to them as packages because they include not only the application itself but also the data necessary for its installation and update. They are universal because they can be installed on any distribution without modifications.
There are 3 universal package formats in Linux:
- app image: No installation required, but you have to update them manually by downloading the new version.
- Flatpak: It does not require administrator permission and usually has the most current versions.
- Snap: In addition to desktop distributions, it can be used on servers and Internet of Things devices. It is often the preferred format for distributors of proprietary Linux applications.
Linux Mint includes support for Flatpak and Appimage but blocks Snap installation by default.
How to install Snap packages on Linux Mint
It must be said that some problems may arise. when using applications, so if you need stability and Snap packages you might want to try Ubuntu Cnnamon. If you want to continue, let's see the procedure to modify the configuration file.
In the terminal we write:
cd /etc/apt/preferences.d
This command takes us to the directory where the file we want to get rid of is located.
We have two options:
The first is to delete it. To do this we write the command:
sudo rm }nosnap.pref
In case you don't want to take such a drastic measure you can choose to move it to another folder with the command:
sudo mv nosnap.pref ~/Documentos/nosnap.backup
Next we update the system and install the support for the installation
sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd
If you want to install or uninstall programs graphically use the command:
sudo snap install snap-store
You can install programs manually with:
snap install nombre_del_programa
Uninstall it with the command:
sudo snap remove nombre_del_programa
Updated with:
sudo snap refresh
To disable support we can use the command:
sudo apt remove –autoremove snapd
And we return the configuration file to its place with:
cd /etc/apt/preferences.d
sudo mv ~/Documents/nosnap.backup nosnap.pref
Since it is very rare that there are no alternatives to Snap packages to install a program, my recommendation is that you use them or, if you need Snap, switch to a distribution that supports them. You can also try unsnap, a tool that said my colleague Pablinux who converts Snap packages into Flatpak.
Fortunately, the Linux world is vast and there are options for all tastes. It's just a matter of trying and finding the one that works best for us.