Revolutionize Your Arch Linux Experience with This Simple Hack - Learn How to Install Snap Applications Now!
Arch Linux is a powerful and flexible Linux distribution loved by its users for its simplicity, stability, and customization. But if you’re a long-time Arch user, you know that installing some software can be a bit of a hassle, especially when it comes to third-party applications that are not readily available through the official repositories.
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to overcome this hurdle – by installing Snap, a universal package manager that allows you to easily install and manage a wide range of software packages on your Arch Linux system.
In this article, we’ll show you how to install Snap on Arch Linux and start using it to expand your software horizons.
What is Snap?
Snap is a cutting-edge packaging format and tool developed by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux. Snap packages are self-contained, sandboxed software packages that bundle all the necessary libraries, dependencies, and other resources needed to run the application, making it easy to install and use on any Linux distribution that supports Snap.
Snap packages allow developers to distribute their software without worrying about compatibility issues or other technical hurdles, making it easier for users to access their favorite applications.
How to Install Snap on Arch Linux
Installing Snap on Arch Linux is a simple process and can be done in just a few steps.
Open a terminal window on your Arch Linux system.
Install the snapd package from the official Arch Linux repositories by running the following command:
sudo pacman -S snapdEnable the snapd socket by running the following command:
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socketAdd the Snap bin directory to your PATH by running the following command:
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin" >> ~/.bashrcThis step ensures that you can easily run Snap packages from the command line.
Finally, reboot your system to ensure that all the changes take effect.
How to Use Snap to Install Applications
Now that Snap is installed on your Arch Linux system, you can start using it to install applications.
To search for available Snap packages, run the following command:
snap find <application_name>
Replace <application_name> with the name of the application you want to install.
To install a specific Snap package, run the following command:
sudo snap install <package_name>
Replace <package_name> with the name of the Snap package you want to install.
Once the installation is complete, you can launch the application from your system’s application launcher or from the command line using the application’s name.
Conclusion
With Snap, you can easily install and manage a wide range of software packages on your Arch Linux system, making it a valuable addition to your software toolkit. By following the simple steps outlined in this article, you can easily install Snap on Arch Linux and start using it to expand your software horizons.
If you’re a longtime Linux user, you likely recall how difficult installing new applications could be. Unless it was included with the installer, you usually needed to go through the configure, make, make install process, usually hunting down missing dependencies along the way. Package managers like apt and yum made this much more manageable, but dependencies could still bite you.
You may have heard of Snap, which claims to fix many of these problems. You might have also heard that it’s an Ubuntu-only thing, but fortunately, that’s not true.
What Are Snap Applications?
Snap applications, known as “snaps,” are meant to be distribution-agnostic, so ideally they should run the same no matter which system they run on. To achieve this, most of the dependencies and runtimes an application needs in order to run are bundled into the snap. This means that once you have snap set up and running on your system, adding applications that would otherwise need several dependencies is now much easier.
Snap is backed by Canonical, which is why it is often mentioned around Ubuntu, but it is meant to run on any major Linux distribution. Arch is even an officially supported distribution, so snap is a great way to run apps that aren’t packaged for Arch.
Installing the snapd Daemon
In order to install snaps on your system, you’ll need the snapd daemon installed. While snap officially supports Arch, you’ll need to install it from the Arch User Repository (AUR). Fortunately, this is easy to do using the yaourt tool.
First, install snapd by running the following command:
Now you need to enable the service to run. To do this, simply type the following command:
Installing Snap Applications
Now that you have snap installed, you can use it to install packages as you would any other package manager. For example, to install a particular application using snap, just run the following:
To list the snaps available on your system, run the following:
To search for a package, you can query whether it is available by typing the following:
Finally, to remove a package, simply run this:
Other Snap Tips and Tricks
Snap applications are automatically kept up to date by default, but to manually update all applications, run the following:
Some snaps don’t use the traditional path, which is “/var/lib/snapd/snap.” Instead, they install to “/snap.” In order to support installing these “classic snaps,” simply create a symbolic link with the following command:
Now you’ll be able to install and run these applications, but they’ll be installed alongside all your other snaps. It’s the best of both worlds and also happens to be compliant with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.
Conclusion
Snap isn’t the only technology of its sort. Flatpak and AppImage are two similar package systems that aim to sort many of the same problems. That said, with Snap having the backing of Ubuntu, it seems to be the most popular of these formats, at least for now.
Does that mean it’s the best? A while ago, we took at look at Snap and Flatpak to see how they hold up against each other and to find out which one is the best.
Kris Wouk is a writer, musician, and whatever it’s called when someone makes videos for the web.
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