omg! ubuntuJul 6, 2023

Technical stuff aside, a major reason why Flatpak does not get the hate Snap does is because users don't resent it.

There are 2 things people hate: the way things are, and change.

Ubuntu put Snaps on users desktops without asking if they wanted them. They just did it, then closed off ways to opt-out/avoid them (Cf. Firefox).

Forced change fosters resentment.

No distro made Flatpaks default/required/opt-out. Users had time to come to the tech and adopt it on their own terms/needs.

Just IMO.

Show threadpopeyJul 6, 2023
@omgubuntu IMO it's less "It was forced on us" (Ubuntu 'forces' tons of changes, like default apps and stuff like pulseaudio over the years). It's more that a) it was pretty broken for a desktop experience, and b) it's Canonical - it's in ✋ vogue ✋ to hate on Canonical, and hard to trust, c) propriatary backend (although this is overblown), d) Was mostly Ubuntu only, e) (next toot)
Show threadpopeyJul 6, 2023
@omgubuntu One big reason is that there was (from the user space) no *need* for snaps. Most users just assume that all that packaging to update software is done magically in the background by elves and pixies. They don't understand there's cost and effort to do it. Also, 3rd party devs were like "we have debs that work, go away".
Show threadomg! ubuntu
@popey Right. I'm thinking about this purely from an end-user's POV too. Like, it's possible to make/impose changes and get people on board but you can't do that by regressing a core experience. Noble aims, though noble, don't calm people irritated that their browser is suddenly bugging out and they can't just 'use what they used before'.
Jul 6, 2023 at 2:19pmWeb
Show threadpopeyJul 6, 2023
@omgubuntu it’s a mistake canonical has made so many times. Introduce something before it’s ready / finished. Unity, pulse audio, shopping lens, snap …