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From: Phillip Frabott <nntp@fulltermprivacy.com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: What exactly is Snap or Flatpack ?
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2024 17:32:25 -0400
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On 10/19/2024 15:55, Rich wrote:
> Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com> wrote:
>> I feel like I have been living under a rock for the the last decade
>> whenever people mention /snap/ and /flatpack/.
>>
>> 1) Are they the same idea as /kubernetes/, and if not, then what is
>>     *that*?
> 
> In a /similar/ ballpark, but not quite /the same/:
> 
> Snap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_(software)
> 
> Flatpak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatpak
> 
>> 2) What is the difference between them (other than that they are two
>>     incompatible brands, like /apt/ and /yum/ (aka /dnf/) are functionally
>>     the same thing, but incompatible with each other)?
> 
> They are very similar to each other, to the point that one looks to be
> a NIH syndrome [1] of the other.
> 
>> Is it just packaging the executable with all the libraries it references
>> and a wrapper that sets up paths to those libraries, or is there a
>> virtual machine involved?
> 
> Both run inside a "sandbox".  So they therefore depend upon whether
> your definition of "virtual machine" extends to include "sandboxed"
> software.
> 
>> Do these wrapped applications see the full file system, or is there a
>> shell game of /chroot/ and links or loopback mounts to break out?
> 
> Presumably they have a limited view of the native filesystem.  The snap
> wikipedia page says "limited access to the host system" but does not
> define if the "limits" included "limited access to native filesystem".
> The Flatpak wikipedia page says "Flatpak[s] need permission to access
> ... files" so it somewhat more explicitly implies a limited view of the
> native filesystem.
> 
>> At 74 I am old, but I hope to still learn some new things!
> 
> [1] Not Invented Here
> 
> 
> 

Just to add to what has already been said, snap and flatpak packages 
tend to include all their dependencies so it is a self-contained 
packages that doesn't tend to need dependencies beyond the package 
manager itself. If I recall (I don't use flatpaks) they are mostly 
statically linked within the pack so regardless of which distribution or 
GNU/Linux installation you use, it's compatible (within reason). Based 
on the technical definition of a virtual machine (a self-contained 
hypervisor that is isolated from the rest of the hardware within the CPU 
and memory mapping) it is not a VM. And I don't consider it a container 
either (although others will likely disagree). it's just a package that 
contains everything the application needs to run. And since it's kept in 
a nice package, it's easy to remove as well.

-- 
Phillip Frabott
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- Adam: Is a void really a void if it returns?
- Jack: No, it's just nullspace at that point.
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