Blog posts written by Igor Ljubuncic

Igor Ljubuncic
26 November 2021

Craft Parts – Reusable code, Snapcraft style

Ubuntu Article

Throughout the ages, humans have always used simpler tools and materials to create more complex ones. Wood and stone for smelting bronze and iron; iron to create steel; vacuum tubes to create logical gates; logical gates to create advanced arithmetic engines, and so on. Modern software is no different. With Snapcraft in particular, the sn ...

Igor Ljubuncic
12 November 2021

Snapcraft offline mode – Build snaps while saving data

Ubuntu Article

As part of the snap creation cycle, the Snapcraft tool creates isolated build instances inside which all of the necessary work – download of sources, compilation, packaging, etc. – is done in a safe manner, without touching the host system. While there are many advantages to the use of the virtual machines (via Multipass) or ...

Igor Ljubuncic
20 October 2021

Snapcraft experimental login – new, secure Web-based authentication method

Ubuntu Article

Some Snapcraft operations mandate that users identify themselves. For example, if you want to push your snap to the Snap Store, you need to login on the command line. The process relies on the internal login mechanism built into Snapcraft. A preview functionality for a new Web-based authentication flow is available as an experimental feat ...

Igor Ljubuncic
8 October 2021

How to make snaps faster

Ubuntu Article

A great user experience is (or at least, should be) an integral part of any software that involves user interaction. On the desktop, this starts with the application launch, and continues through the session. The overall time to completion of tasks as well as interactive responsiveness are a core element in this journey. If you’re ...

Igor Ljubuncic
16 September 2021

Snap Performance Skunk Works – Ensuring speed and consistency for snaps

Ubuntu Article

Snaps are used on desktop machines, servers and IoT devices. However, it’s the first group that draws the most attention and scrutiny. Due to the graphic nature of desktop applications, users are often more attuned to potential problems and issues that may arise in the desktop space than with command-line tools or software running in ...

Igor Ljubuncic
3 September 2021

Snapcraft 6.0 is around the corner

Ubuntu Article

A good sign of maturity and confidence in software is when said software utilizes its own components for future development and enablement. Snapcraft is a command-line utility that allows developers to package and distribute their applications as snaps. But Snapcraft itself is also distributed as a snap, and built in the same manner! Toda ...

Igor Ljubuncic
20 August 2021

Snap usage metrics now available on the command line

Ubuntu Article

For years now, developers and publishers could view how well their snaps are performing in terms of usage and popularity through the Snap Store Web interface, using the metrics tab. This functionality allows people to examine the cause and effect of their work, like software updates, marketing campaigns, or other events. But it requires m ...

Igor Ljubuncic
13 August 2021

Snapcraft for Windows – Preview

Ubuntu Article

Two weeks ago, Snapcraft reached its fifth milestone release, 5.0. This version brings in a number of significant changes, including the removal of the base (core) snap, which has been relegated to the 4.X channel track. For snap developers, especially those working in mixed environments, the availability of the first preview release of S ...

Igor Ljubuncic
14 July 2021

How to cache snap downloads and save bandwidth

Cloud and server Article

For many people, fast broadband connection and unlimited data are a reality. For others, they are not. If you have several Linux hosts in your (home) environment, and you’re using snaps, each of these systems will separately communicate with the Snap Store and periodically download necessary updates. This can be costly in terms of inbound ...

Igor Ljubuncic
2 July 2021

How to ensure your snap uses the correct theme

Ubuntu Article

An app is an app is an app. But in the world of Linux, things are a little more nuanced. Take VLC as an example. The software may be packaged ever so slightly differently in various Linux distribution archives, even different releases of the same distribution – the av01 codec is an interesting use case ...

Igor Ljubuncic
18 June 2021

How’s my snap faring on different distributions?

Ubuntu Article

The life of an application can roughly be divided into two: everything that happens before it goes live – building, packaging, publication – and then, everything that happens after that milestone. Traditionally, on Linux, developers didn’t always have an easy way of deriving useful numbers on how their software was doing across the distro ...

Igor Ljubuncic
11 June 2021

What has snapd ever done for other distros?

Ubuntu Article

Snaps are self-contained applications designed with ease of use, security and portability in mind. They bundle their necessary dependencies, so they can work and run without modifications across numerous Linux distributions. How many? More than 40. Yet, often when technology is strongly associated with a particular product, in this case s ...