Linux Mint 20 disables support for Snap apps entirely on your behalf, but in this post I’m going to show you how to re-enable it (if you want to, that is).
Why has Mint put the kibosh on this tech at all? Well, let’s not get in to that here as it’s been explained/debated/argued elsewhere. Suffice to say that there is a reason behind Mint’s decision to disable the format decision, and it impacts on what the Mint user base considerably.
Throw a glance at the install stats for any app in the Snap Store and you’ll learn that Linux Mint users are actively using the containerised tech to install fresh versions of well-known apps like GIMP, OBS Studio, VSCode, and the like.
But back to the task at hand.
Now that you can download Linux Mint 20 beta I figured I’d throw up an article on this now rather than wait for the stable release in a few weeks. That way anyone planning to test the beta release this weekend who wants the choice of whether to install Snaps apps (or not) can do so.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “Dang Joey, I can just run sudo apt install snapd to install Snap support in Linux Mint, it’s easy” — but you’re a little bit wrong. Mint has disabled that.
As noted by Leo Chavez, co-host on the (terrific) MintCast podcast, any attempt to install snapd from the command line will result in a package 'snapd' has no installation candidate error.
“Linux Mint no longer supports the proprietary Ubuntu Store of the “snapd” open-source client which connects to it,” reads the nosnap.pref file Mint has wedged down the package management pipework.
One “workaround” is to specify which version of snapd you want, e.g.:
sudo apt install snapd=VERSION
And this will install it. But, and it’s a notable but: knowing the exact version number of Snapd required is an ask as it constantly changes. And this method doesn’t restore full functionality of Snapd, either.
The proper fix? Nuke the file from orbit:
Now, to be fair, running file delete commands as root from the command line isn’t something you want to do absent mildly. So, again assuming you’re on Linux Mint 20 already, open Nemo as a super user and trash the nosnap.pref in /etc/apt/preferences.d/ the good ol’ fashioned way.
Once done, it’s then a snap to install snapd and Snap apps on Linux as normal.
Including, yes, Chromium, aka the cause of this particular controversy.