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I'm on Ubuntu 20.04.2 with Gnome desktop.

I would like to know the following: which of my apps are snaps, or if I have snap apps at all, and if I do then how many.

Secondary question: is there a way to go snap-less? Or do some system-related apps depend on snap, so I'm stuck with it?

Levente
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    Run snap list in a terminal to see all your snaps. Of course it's possible to have the snap version installed as well as the apt package version. I'm not sure on your second question. – codlord Feb 17 '21 at 18:59

1 Answers1

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At this time, snaps are not required to run Ubuntu. However the Ubuntu software store does depend to some extent upon the availability of snaps.

To list the snaps that are installed on your system, open a terminal window and enter the command snap list - this will give a list similar to

$ snap list
Name               Version             Rev    Tracking         Publisher   Notes
core18             20210128            1988   latest/stable    canonical✓  base
gnome-3-34-1804    0+git.3556cb3       66     latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gtk-common-themes  0.1-50-gf7627e4     1514   latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
snap-store         3.38.0-59-g494f078  518    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
snapd              2.48.2.1            11036  latest/stable    canonical✓  snapd

It is possible to remove some or all of the snaps. Many (most) applications are available in different packaging options, but this is something that the application maintainer decides.

My current method for removing all snaps:

snap list | awk '!/^Name|^core|^snapd/ {system ("sudo snap remove " $1)}'
sudo apt remove --purge -y snapd gnome-software-plugin-snap

This does disable the ubuntu software store. However, running sudo apt install gnome-software will call as a dependancy snapd. You could simply omit the second line of my snap removal.

Charles Green
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  • My list is almost identical to yours. But gnome-3-34 and gtk-common-themes seem to be system level. Should I dare to experiment uninstalling them? Even core18 seem important, considering its base note... – Levente Feb 17 '21 at 19:05
  • Considering "However the Ubuntu software store does depend to some extent upon the availability of snaps." That's quite enough to not want to mess with it, is it? I know that I can use apt on the cli and Synaptic, yet, sometimes I find some use in Ubuntu Software too... – Levente Feb 17 '21 at 19:06
  • All in all, I feel attempting the removal of the individual snaps and then the snap store might prove to be a one-way-street to having to reinstall... (I'm not running in a VM, this is my proper primary OS.) – Levente Feb 17 '21 at 19:12
  • Its not really so bad - they can also be reinstalled in a manner which causes the ubuntu store to operate properly. My current installation method (I reinstall often) removes all snaps and the snap daemon, then calls for a reinstall of ubuntu-software which installed just enough snap.... – Charles Green Feb 17 '21 at 19:42
  • That seems like a big clean-out, which then leaves you with the minimally necessary amount — but not zero. Am I interpreting it right? – Levente Feb 17 '21 at 19:43
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    Yes, it's possible to remove all the snaps, and remove snapd. You then lose the ability to install snaps - which may be what you want. But the desktop will function fine. – popey Feb 17 '21 at 19:51
  • @popey The snap functionality can be restored... Editing answer.... – Charles Green Feb 17 '21 at 19:52