Is Ubuntu Software's days numbered? It seems so, and we will all win

Flutter-based software center that will replace Ubuntu Software

Let's take a walk through the Linux blogosphere. At the beginning of this month, on our sister blog Ubunlog we echoed a news story that we had read on OMG! Ubuntu! It explained that a software store for Ubuntu based on Flutter was being developed half-secretly, but also that it was taking its first steps and that it was unlikely that we would see it in Ubuntu in the short term. Today, J. Pomeyrol has posted on your blog another chapter of this story, and it seems that Ubuntu Software's days are numbered.

Citing the Ubuntu Reddit, Canonical has started the process to replace Ubuntu Software with that version based on Flutter. I have tested it on an Ubuntu 22.10 virtual machine, but considering that it is currently running as Snap, it should be possible to install it on any distribution that supports this type of package. At the time of writing this article, the app icon is the one that the Snap Store had before it was the official Ubuntu store, that is, the green bag with the snapcraft logo.

Ubuntu Software is renewed

Although in my case it is in German and I don't know if it has to do with the virtual machine, which is Ubuntu 22.10 or something else, you don't have to be a polyglot to understand what is marked in the following screenshot:

snap or debian packages

On the left, which in our language comes first, says “Snap pakker”, and the logo is that of snapcraft; on the right, it says "Debian pakker", and the logo is the Debian spiral. That appears when we do a search, in the case of the VLC example. If we click on the Debian option we will see many more packages, among which we will find different add-ons. So the first impression is that yes, sure, Canonical is going to keep trying to get us to install the snap packages, but the DEB option is much more in the offing. We remember that the current Ubuntu Software also has this option, but in a much smaller and less descriptive dropdown.

Performance-wise, it feels as smooth or smoother than GNOME Software, the official GNOME store, and has nothing to do with current Ubuntu Software, despite both coming in one. snap packages. The imposition of Canonical has been so little liked that until last Remix to appear has discarded it.

What about Flatpak packages?

Well, if I haven't missed anything in all this information, and doing a quick Google search, what Canonical offers doesn't support them. If they don't change anything, to install flatpak packages in Ubuntu we will continue to depend on a third-party software store or from the terminal. Unless Canonical changes its mind or some developer finds a solution, something difficult if we take into account that these types of packages are isolated (sandbox).

Install/Uninstall Ubuntu Software based on Flutter

This Ubuntu Software flutter-based it is in alpha phase, and it is not in Spanish. In fact, and as already explained, in my Ubuntu 22.10 virtual machine in GNOME Boxes it appears in German. If someone has an installation like mine, where they can do tests, or they simply have so much obsession with the current Ubuntu Software that they prefer to test the future without fully "loading" the stable, to install this version We will open a terminal and write:

sudo snap remove snap-store && sudo snap install snap-store --channel=preview/edge

To make the path back, we would write the following:

sudo snap remove snap-store && sudo snap install snap-store --stable

As a curious fact, and if I'm wrong someone let me know and I'll correct this immediately, this version of the Snap Store is not always running in the second flat. Yes there is a process with the name snapd-desktop-integration, but not the Snap Store that appeared until recently and that consumed much more RAM than we could assume (the new store process appears simply as software). Therefore, this Ubuntu Software looks much better, and who knows if in the future it will also be offered as a DEB package.

Be that as it may, it seems that the current Ubuntu Software's days are numbered, and I think that there are not a few of us who are happy.


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  1.   Jose said

    These from Canonical are like the ones from Timosoft…WE DON'T WANT SPYWARE SNAP PACKAGES!

  2.   richo said

    thanks for the very interesting note