What is the difference between Snap and APT?

Last updated on February 25, 2023 by Dan Nanni

Question: On Ubuntu, I have been using APT package manager to install and update apps, but Ubuntu also offers Snap package manager. What is the main difference between Snap and APT?

A package manager is a software tool that simplifies the process of installing, updating, and managing software packages on a Linux operating system. While common package managers used in Linux are APT (Advanced Package Tool) on Debian and Ubuntu, RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) on Red Hat and Fedora, and Pacman on Arch Linux, there are also newer package managers called Snap and Flatpak. Let's find out what these newer package managers are, and how they differ.

What is APT?

APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) is a package management system used by Debian-based Linux distros such as Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Elementary OS. APT is used to manage the installation, removal, and upgrading of software packages on a Linux system. APT works by connecting to a software repository that contains a collection of packages. The repository is maintained by the Linux distribution's developers and contains all of the packages that are officially supported. APT can also be configured to use third-party repositories, which may contain additional packages that are not included in the official repository.

What is Snap?

Snap is a newer package manager developed by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. Since it first became available on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Snap has gained popularity as a way to distribute software applications that are not available in traditional Linux package repositories. Other than Ubuntu, some of the Linux distros that officially support Snap include Debian, Fedora, Manjaro, Arch Linux, OpenSUSE, and CentOS. Snap was initially developed to address some of the limitations of traditional package management systems like APT, such as unreliable dependency management, slow software distribution process, security, and lack of cross-distribution support.

Difference between Snap and APT

Snap and APT are both package management systems for Linux, but there are some key differences between them as follows.

Overall, APT is a more traditional package management system that is used by many Linux distributions, while Snap is a newer, more modular system that is designed to be self-contained and secure. Both Snap and APT have their strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of which package management system to use will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the user.

Support Xmodulo

This website is made possible by minimal ads and your gracious donation via PayPal or credit card

Please note that this article is published by Xmodulo.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you would like to use the whole or any part of this article, you need to cite this web page at Xmodulo.com as the original source.

Xmodulo © 2023 ‒ AboutWrite for Us ‒ Feed ‒ Powered by DigitalOcean