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Nutukubuntu
Asked: 2019-04-14 08:43:16 +0800 CST

Parallel versions of software in the Ubuntu Software Installer [duplicate]

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I am in the process of customising my new Dell Inspiron 15 3581, which came installed with Ubuntu 18.04.

I am a bit uncertain/confused when it comes to the Ubuntu Software Installer. i.e. I look for Claws Mail and up comes claws-mail-moon127 (Snap Store, 84.3 MB, 3.17.2). But when I scroll down further, there is Claws Mail (ubuntu-bionic-universe, 1.4 MB, 3.16.0-1).

I probably haven't quite understood yet, what this snapcraft is about, and how it is related to the Ubuntu repositories.

I guess, my actual questions are:

a) If there are two versions available, like the Claws Mail example above, which one would be the preferable, and why?

b) Which one would be the more stable version?

c) Will there be a conflict if I install both versions?

software-installation software-center snap 18.04

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Since you've already figured out why there are two versions of same app. I'll answer your question briefly.

    • If there are two versions available, like the Claws Mail example above, which one would be the preferable, and why?

      Neither of them is more or less preferred, it all depends on convinience and choices. Deb packages generally depends on some other packages. If those packages aren't found, which generally happens due to incorrect/missing repository information or that Deb package isn't meant for that particular Ubuntu version, dependency problems might occur which has to be investigated. In snaps there is nothing like dependency. Snap packages contain all essential packages/files in a single snap (I'll say they bundle up all dependencies in a single package).

      I personally avoid Snap packages due to memory since it generally stores 3 packages at a time so that you can rollback your snap anytime to a previous version. Also, since snap packages contain all essential files, they are generally large packages. Moreover, dependency of a deb package can satisfy the dependency of some other deb package, thus, saves memory too.

    • Which one would be the more stable version?

      Both are stable. There is no difference among them. Only their distribution method is different. But as snaps says: Always newest version, so it's expected that new version of packages will arrive on Snaps first and then (may or may not) in repositories.

      For example, NetBeans' latest version is 11.0 which is available via Snap but official repositories of Ubuntu still has v8.1 (in 18.04). But then there are other methods to install v11.0 if you want to avoid Snaps.

    • Will there be a conflict if I install both versions?

      Yes and No. Like if you are currently running Snap version of Chromium, you might not be able to open a window of Chromium installed via APT. But still you can have both versions installed on your system and run only one version at a given time. Also, if you call Chromium from terminal it may be a snap or deb depending on the alternative it is to (determine using which package_name). I believe no other conflicts will be there, they'll stay independent but they may have shared resources.

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