Is it me or Ubuntu secretly replaces DEB Firefox with Snap Firefox?
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Yes. That was the last straw for me. I switched to debian stable, and haven't looked back since
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Hah! Me too, exactly this.
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No defending Ubuntu but wasn't this clarified to be Mozilla's deploying it via Snap and requesting to remove the apt installation?
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Because not everyone wants to spend their time babysitting an OS and Ubuntu has a 20-year track record of dependability.
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It takes a little more than just adding a different repository to your package manager, you have to tell apt which to prefer:
echo '
Package: *
Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org
Pin-Priority: 1000Package: firefox*
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: -1' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla -
Exactly. Enough with the inane conspiracism.
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Why even enable snaps? It's like asking to have headaches.
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Well then you haven't been following it closely. As someone else said, the reason is simple: the Snap version is more recent (like it or not) and in Ubuntu
aptis configured to take into account Snap packages. -
It's more than that. Ubuntu copies the Debian repos and then applies their own changes on top. Debian has a native (DEB) Firefox package, so Ubuntu specifically has to remove it for every new version.
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It's a dilemma; most Windows and Mac users would benefit from that kind of locked-down, idiot-proof format. Even having the choice of multiple repos is too much for them. So while I personally hate it, that's what most people (i.e. non-Linux users) want and need.
I recommend Ubuntu as the beginner distro for everyone, but with the hope that they eventually drop the training wheels and switch to Debian.
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Debian testing just isn’t a very good rolling release disto
What makes you say that?
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You could compile it from source yourself, and you won't even have to worry about packaging and package managers.
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While I get that, Debian fits that role extremely well.
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I think fedora is best for user that want a recent kernel and reasonably fast update cycle (like not a year behind) but are not interested in rolling (for whatever reason ever).
I love rolling and had no issues due to rolling yet
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How did you get snap on mint?!
I once tried it as a noob and mint was always “snap bad! Don’t do this! You will regret” even on try to circumvent it 
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I was waiting for this! Debian is great. I used it for years. But IMO it's not polished enough for normies. The website is fugly and the onboarding funnel assumes too much knowledge. The installer, last time I tried it, was glitchy and unintuitive. I think that techies underestimate how offputting even ostensibly minor issues like this will be to ordinary users. Also, Debian has a ton of unmaintained packages (altho I gather that something is being done about this). Debian is fundamentally amateur in the best and unfortunately worst senses. I think a Linux flagship distro needs to be more pro and systematically thought out. For that, it's always going to help to have a big company or organization behind it.
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That’s why I recommend mint. You have all the benefits of ubuntu but without the corporate stuff. And flatpak instead of snap.
