Snap Only Packages And Other changes

Linux
#1

I have been using Firefox since it was at version 1.0.4, however I’m seriously considering switching on hearing about the snap only version on future Ubuntu distributions. Apparent the request for snap only packages came from Mozilla? If this is FUD and there will always be officially supported .deb packages then fine.

If not then I find this very disappointing. The reasons for not using snap for core desktop programs is well understood and publicised (including closed eco system and inability to clone snap repos for company intranets). Downloading a tar ball is also not an option, I just want to update the system using the native apt package manager and be done with it. Anything else is a backward step.

Other decisions like threatening to get rid of compact mode, pushing unwanted advertising etc make me wonder whether you have an interloper in your midst that is trying to undermine Mozilla?

One last point is that if you rely on telemetry data to drive certain decisions, then most firefox users are the sort of people that value privacy and turn that off as the first thing they do on installation. So you’re going to get a rather skewed view.

Please reconsider, we need browser diversity, not every browser should be chromium based.

What ever you decide, many thanks for your past efforts. Firefox was and hopefully will be again a great and popular browser.

Tony.

#2

Hi Tony

There have been an official Snap and Flatpack versions for some time now. Mozilla also provides a tarball. Distro maintainers did (and continue to) provide .deb builds.

#3

Addendum:

The deb package is provided by Ubuntu maintainers. If Ubuntu decides to only distribute snap package in their official repositories, sadly, there’s nothing Mozilla can do about it.

Like Seburo mentioned, Mozilla does and will still provides a tarballversion that you can manually install on your Linux. If you install the tarball version, the auto-update mechanism will still work. The only difference is instead of getting the update from Ubuntu you will get it directly from Mozilla. Personally, I even prefer this because sometimes Ubuntu doesn’t provide the update in their repositories as fast as Mozilla does from the tarball version.

I hope this answer your question. If you need more information, feel free to ask.

2 Likes
#4

Neither of you have answered this poor guy’s questions. Did the request for Snap-only Firefox packages come from Mozilla?

Personally, I even prefer this because sometimes Ubuntu doesn’t provide the update in their repositories as fast as Mozilla does from the tarball version.

Awesome for you. It’s nothing but fragmentation, loose files, and management headaches to lots of other people. How are people supposed to install Firefox updates without starting Firefox if Firefox is the tool that updates Firefox? Launching Firefox to update Firefox is a workflow that works very badly for many people.

To be clear, the tarball and Firefox auto-update are awful answers. The worst possible Firefox UX on Linux.