[HOW TO] Get rid of Snap in Zorin

Tutorials & Guides
1

Greetings,

You're like me don't like Snap for whatever reason(s) and want to remove it from your system? Look no further, this is how it is done.

With two commands you'll be Snap-free. But beware it will uninstall any snap installed application also.
The first command clear the snap cache.
The second command remove snap and snap applications.

sudo rm -rf /var/cache/snapd
sudo apt-get remove --purge snapd

Enjoy!!! :slight_smile:

16 Likes
2

Hi Strom,

I run
$ snap list

to check what I have as Sap on my system.
I got the following returned:

$ snap list
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
core18 20210507 2066 latest/stable canonicalâś“ base
gnome-3-28-1804 3.28.0-19-g98f9e67.98f9e67 145 latest/stable canonicalâś“ -
gtk-common-themes 0.1-52-gb92ac40 1515 latest/stable canonicalâś“ -
snapd 2.50.1 12057 latest/stable canonicalâś“ snapd
wine-platform-5-stable 5.0.3 16 latest/stable mmtrt -
wine-platform-runtime v1.0 220 latest/stable mmtrt -

Is it OK to remove them all?

1 Like
3

Yes, it won't break your system. Snap runs a system in the system in its own little bobble :stuck_out_tongue: So to remove them will not harm your "real" system.

1 Like
4

Thanks, Storm!

I just run the commands and no, the sky did not fall upon me :laughing:

PS
I think your way of adding [How to] to the tutorial is excellent! I did the same for my latest tutorial :slight_smile:

2 Likes
7
  1. It takes more resources to run X,Y,Z application in snaps.
  2. It doesn't follow UI/theme/icons rules of your system eg. you have to manual set up custom icon for applications.
  3. It's slow.
2 Likes
14

Snap and flatpak also have shown some pretty serious security issues.

But for me, personally, the reason I abhor Snap is because of what it does and what it represents in FOSS.
Snap is a Broken Promise by Canonical that seeks to assert more control over the user and the users system. Not only does Snap sandbox its applications, locking everything out and making them difficult to troubleshoot, it also replaces other methods of installation, which is something Canonical Promised it would not do at the time of the release of Snap. Even now, if you use the Software Center, it will sneak Snaps in, offering no alternative.
It is due to this that the Zorin Group included the ability to check the source in their Zorin OS Software App.

Flatpak is about "half-snap" so I show it no mercy, either.

3 Likes
18

Yes you can install snapd using the reverse of the process to remove it:

sudo apt install snapd

19

And how to add the snap library into the Software store after purge and reinstall?

20

Try:

sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-snap

1 Like
21

It disappears after these two commands, there are no snap or snapd processes any more. But after a few days, always less than a week, it comes back and it secretly reinstalls firefox. I notice it because then my normal firefox doesn´t work anymore.

(I indeed had once firefox first installed with snap, but that didn´t work well, so I removed it)

22

Perhaps that helps. You could try it.

1 Like
23

Maybe we should widen @Storm's Commands from the initial Comment a bit:

  1. sudo systemctl stop snapd snapd.socket
  2. sudo systemctl disable snapd snapd.socket
  3. sudo apt purge snapd gnome-software-plugin-snap
  4. sudo apt autoremove (But check the Remove List before delete the Packages first)
  5. sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.conf and put in:
# To prevent repository packages from triggering the installation of snap,
# this file forbids snapd from being installed by APT.

Package: snapd
Pin: release a=*
Pin-Priority: -10
  1. sudo apt update
24

Hello,
Just a question for the technical experts:
if you don't like Snap, why not just leave it installed on your PC and simply not use it?
Is there a technical reason to get rid of it, or is it just a matter of principle?

26

Sure, You can let it installed and simply not use it. Uninstall and blocking it brings the Point, that it will not be installed anymore. Also uninstall removes the Service which makes that the Boot Process can be a bit faster. Also, You remove Stuff that You don't use in the first Place saves Disc Space. When there might be a Security Issue, You aren't affected by that.

2 Likes