Create a Snap package

[mhall119]

Snap packages have many advantages over .deb packages. For starters you can include the specific version of all your dependencies, from any source you like, so you always have what you need. You can also create your snap package from an existing binary build, rather than having to make it build on Ubuntu or Debian's build servers. Finally your snap package will be available to users of Ubuntu 16.04 and later (and even other distros if the user installs snapd) as soon as you hit "Publish", they don't have to add a PPA to install them, and they will even show up in the Ubuntu Software application.

Documentation for building snaps is at: http://snapcraft.io/
You can find a number of snapcraft build configs here: https://github.com/ubuntu/snappy-playpen
There's also a Gitter channel you can find help at: https://gitter.im/ubuntu/snappy-playpen

[samdroid-apps]

I'm not planning on perusing this myself. I am planning on making a Flatpack (see #35) since that seems to be where it is at in the Gtk+ world. I'm always happy to take a patch to add a snap though.

I understand that snaps have some advantages over traditional packages, but that does not negate the need for a .deb package or a ppa. There are some circumstances that users may appreciate the trustworthiness and small size of a traditional distro package.

[samdroid-apps]

So regarding the flatpak, I've got a flatpak config that mostly works in the repo now.

Is snap still a thing on ubuntu @mhall119? Are you still interested in doing this? Does the flatpak config help you with making a snap?

[mhall119]

Snaps are still a big thing for Ubuntu, yes. Unfortunately I don't have the time to work on this that I did two years ago. But maybe @popey would be interested in helping

[popey]

Thanks for the ping @mhall119 !

@samdroid-apps as Michael mentioned, snaps are very much a thing. In fact on average, for every flatpak that's installed, there's about 10x that number for the same application as a snap, and there are roughly 10x as many snaps as there are flatpaks right now. Snaps are installed today on 40+ distinct distros, and that number is growing. So it's very much still a thing :)

I can certainly provide a basic snapcraft.yaml to get you started, if that will help? :)

[samdroid-apps]

That sounds like a great plan @popey! It sounds like a snap would still be super helpful for some users.