Canonical developers continue working towards Ubuntu 24.10, the next release of the popular Linux distribution, and thankfully more fixes are coming for the Steam Snap package.
Mentioned in an update in the Ubuntu Discourse forum, Oliver Smith who is the Interim Engineering Director for Ubuntu Desktop, talked about issues with Snap + NVIDIA + Steam. The team has worked on a "more permissive AppArmor profile" for the Steam Snap package to "grant broader permissions to the snap" and that this "looks to resolve a majority of outstanding game compatibility issues that were not present in the Steam deb".
So hopefully, this will mean the Steam Snap package, that Canonical promoted from experimental to stable, will actually be properly usable soon.
It was also mentioned how they found issues with the NVIDIA 550 driver, which have been fixed. Thankfully that's coming sooner rather than later with a newer version of snapd that will arrive before Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS. Additionally there's some better testing in place now for future driver updates.
Thanks to all this they "expect a significant improvement in the quality of compatibility of the Steam snap".
Also, if you're looking for a job, Canonical are again hiring for more Desktop Software Engineers.
Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS is due out on August 29th.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Great day! Hope this improve performance much needed actually. 
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dziadulewicz Aug 20
Ubuntu keeps getting better and better 
and very stable powerhouse too.
and very stable powerhouse too.
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Great news that they're hiring, and putting more development work into the linux space.
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I'm always a bit surprised to see so much effort spent, just to return to the status quo. How much further could the Linux Desktop be along if those people tackled unsolved issues instead of just re-inventing the wheel ... and especially Canonical seems to be quite infected by the "not invented here" syndrome.
Honestly, after having spent at least the last 10 years on Ubuntu, I'm actually contemplating switching to something else instead of upgrading to 24.04.1. And the main reason is Snap. I understand that there's the need for 3rd parties to package "universal" Linux binaries, and I don't think it's bad that there are several choices for that, including Snap. But why would the maker of the distro go that route, especially if it goes hand in hand with a degradation of the user experience!?
Honestly, after having spent at least the last 10 years on Ubuntu, I'm actually contemplating switching to something else instead of upgrading to 24.04.1. And the main reason is Snap. I understand that there's the need for 3rd parties to package "universal" Linux binaries, and I don't think it's bad that there are several choices for that, including Snap. But why would the maker of the distro go that route, especially if it goes hand in hand with a degradation of the user experience!?
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dziadulewicz Aug 20
Quoting: kaimanAnd the main reason is Snap.?
Oh geez come on!
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Comandante Ñoñardo Aug 20
QuoteIt was also mentioned how they found issues with the NVIDIA 550 driver, which have been fixed.I that why the NVIDIA 550 driver is not yet available for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS?
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dziadulewicz Aug 20
Quoting: kaimanCanonical seems to be quite infected by the "not invented here" syndrome.
This has been proven a false claim so many times but still ppl try to use it against Ubuntu or whatever.
Unity was a huge step forward for Linux desktop when introduced. To this day a lot of people want it back, after a loud minority shat on it for years.
Now they try the same towards GNOME it seems. Some people have some kind of need to hate? If only these people used what they prefer and would leave others alone? It also does not look good for new comers to arrive in the middle of technical flame wars
MIR? Result of inability to reason with Wayland guys and Snap was created before Flatpak. Snapd have much wider feature list. Flatpak is merely a fracture of what Snaps are capable of.
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Quoting: kaimanHonestly, after having spent at least the last 10 years on Ubuntu, I'm actually contemplating switching to something else instead of upgrading to 24.04.1. And the main reason is Snap.Can't resist a plug for Mint then. Like Ubuntu, but better, and doesn't use Snap. Unless you're a KDE person because Mint doesn't really do KDE.
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Quoting: dziadulewiczI think there is a real beef to be made about the way Canonical operates with respect to the open source ecosystem, although "not invented here" isn't exactly, or mostly, it. People reach for that because it's kind of close and there isn't really a term for what Canonical does.Quoting: kaimanCanonical seems to be quite infected by the "not invented here" syndrome.This has been proven a false claim so many times but still ppl try to use it against Ubuntu or whatever.
The thing is that Canonical typically seems to control their open source projects very tightly, making it difficult for anyone else to get involved, contribute, have influence or in some cases even use the stuff they're making. There's nothing about them that's not technically open source, but if you want to add a feature that isn't part of Canonical's road map, you're gonna have to fork it, and I seem to recall they insist on contributors handing over copyright and stuff. So then nobody outside Canonical contributes and it makes the projects not as good and reduces mindshare.
And it tends to make people forget that the Canonical project was first (in cases where it was), because it didn't have a community so nobody noticed it much before they actually released it for general use or got into some kind of difficulty with whatever other project was doing the same stuff.
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Quoting: dziadulewiczOh geez come on!I'm pretty sure there are plenty of advantages that snaps or flatpaks have over traditional packages, but what I notice is mostly how clunky things are:
- Want to update your browser while it's running? Tough luck! (Never noticed that issue with the .debs.)
- Want to use extensions with a native component? Finally can do that again! (Took only two years to sort it out.)
- Want the snap store to update itself? Again, tough luck! (Can be done from the command line.)
And that's on a system that only has 10 snaps, I really dread the day when that number increases. Though maybe a do-release-upgrade will be safe for now ...
Quoting: dziadulewiczUnity was a huge step forward for Linux desktop when introduced. To this day a lot of people want it backMe included. But as it's not returning, that's one less reason to remain on Ubuntu.
Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of stuff to like about Ubuntu, otherwise I would not have stuck to it for such a long time. But if something keeps nagging me constantly, maybe it's time to look for alternatives. If I had not done that in the past, I might still be using Windows or macOS after all ...
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