kc@flip:~$ cat /etc/issue
KDE neon User Edition \n \l
kc@flip:~$ uname -a
Linux flip 6.14.0-33-generic #33~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Sep 19 17:02:30 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
kc@flip:~$ snap list
No snaps are installed yet. Try 'snap install hello-world'.
kc@flip:~$ dpkg -l | grep snap
ii libsnapd-glib-2-1:amd64 1.67-1zneon+24.04+noble+release+build9 amd64 GLib snapd library
ii libsnapd-qt6-2-1:amd64 1.67-1zneon+24.04+noble+release+build9 amd64 Qt snapd library (Qt6 version
ii libsnappy1v5:amd64 1.1.10-1build1 amd64 fast compression/decompression library
ii plasma-discover-backend-snap 6.4.5-0zneon+24.04+noble+release+build41 amd64 Discover software management suite - Snap backend
ii snapd
I want to remove all snap functionality from my system via something like:
sudo apt purge --autoremove snapd
rm -rf ~/snap
sudo rm -rf /snap /var/snap /var/lib/snapd /var/cache/snapd
I prefer to use KDE NEON as a stable base plus flatpaks for non-system apps and–in keeping with the apparent philosophy of the project–use only the Discover tool for updates or the pkcon update syntax.
The question is will I break the designers’ system?
No, not at all.
You want to uninstall any running snaps before removing any packages, I think. Neon doesn’t use any ootb.
Then you can uninstall snapd, and plasma-discover-backend-snap if you want to be more complete – you won’t see the Snap option in Discover’s settings any longer, though it would just be grayed out if you didn’t remove the backend, but nothing breaks.
You do still need to be careful not to install one of the few sneaky things that would cause snap to be reinstalled, like Chromium, and Thunderbird. You can create an apt prefs file to do this, though some just ‘hold’ the snap package with apt-mark after uninstalling it.
Thanks for that. I have removed all vestiges of snaps, and as you suggested:
sudo apt-mark hold snapd
That should keep it from sneaking back in as a dependency.
On another note, some programs are only available as a .deb package, for example, iDrive. I have found it to be very reliable, but the installer hung. It is not made in a flatpak.
You will want to use dpkg or apt on the command line to see any errors or anything with that deb, which hopefully can tell us what is wrong here.
Open a terminal to the same folder as the file and enter:
sudo dpkg -i name-of-the.deb
or
sudo apt install ./name-of-the.deb
But when you do so, you will probably see that IDrive doesn’t support neon, and it hangs instead of stopping. The deb only supports Ubuntu, Debian, and Mint for deb-style distros. While you could temporarily spoof being Ubuntu and try installing it again, it probably will still hang. It does for me, and there are no logs or output on it I can find.
You might need to install the command-line version, perhaps, if the desktop app won’t install.
With holding packages, I am not 100% sure how permanent that is, though I haven’t dug in to be sure. It probably is, or close enough. The config file option I think would work even after a distro version upgrade.
I have tried my best, but idrive refuses to install, even if I hack the ‘preinst’ section of the .deb and even if I use the generic linux .tar.gz package. I give up on iDrive for KDE NEON. I got it to install on LMDE 7 and fully functional by hacking one line on the ‘preinst’ section of the .deb package. I’m liking the slick interface of KDE NEON too much to go back, so now thinking of manual scripts to send a tarball to a local share on my home network. Too bad. Idrive is a very reliable service.