[Bug 1999308] Re: Snap keeps uninstalling apt Firefox, and reinstalling snap Firefox
Paul Harrison
1999308 at bugs.launchpad.net
Mon May 22 13:05:38 UTC 2023
> if you remove the snap, it's not being installed back by snapd or the
system
This is clearly untrue.
> - the issue there is that users do install a firefox deb version which
is older than the 1:1snap version from the archive. Apt does what is the
standard behavior next time you install available updates, it replaces
an outdated version by a newer one. The newer version is the archive
special package which install the snap, so you get back the snap
If it were the case, then apt-get update / apt-get upgrade (or just the
regular system update tool) would be installing the 1:1snap version. But
that isn't true, the Snap is being reinstalled in the background at an
unpredictable time. apt-get does not "update" the package to the bogus,
removed, package. Indeed, the process for fixing this (minus the lost data)
is apt-get remove firefox followed by apt-get install firefox.
Also the "buggy deb" you're referring to is the one from the official
Mozilla Team PPA, https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu/
It sounds as if there's a misunderstanding here of exactly what's going on.
Can this ticket be re-opened please?
On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 8:51 AM Sebastien Bacher <1999308 at bugs.launchpad.net>
wrote:
> Details of why that's not a bug
>
> - Ubuntu decided to default to firefox as a snap and turned the deb to
> an 'utility' package providing some of the system gluing and installing
> the snap. The package uses a '1:1snap' version version '1:' is an Debian
> epoch (which means that version is going to be considered newer than any
> other version not using it)
>
> - if you remove the snap, it's not being installed back by snapd or the
> system
>
> - the issue there is that users do install a firefox deb version which
> is older than the 1:1snap version from the archive. Apt does what is the
> standard behavior next time you install available updates, it replaces
> an outdated version by a newer one. The newer version is the archive
> special package which install the snap, so you get back the snap
>
>
> The problem there is that people install a deb with a 'buggy' version for
> what they try to achieve, if you want that deb to stay you need to use a
> version newer than the archive one. Or to use apt pinning as described in
> previous comment to hold updates. Or install firefox from the upstream
> tarball instead of using a deb...
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1999308
>
> Title:
> Snap keeps uninstalling apt Firefox, and reinstalling snap Firefox
>
> Status in firefox package in Ubuntu:
> Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> I have looked on various forums including the search features of
> Launchpad, help.ubuntu..com, and Google for answers on this but not been
> able to.
>
> I have uninstalled the snap of firefox multiple times, installing the
> real
> Firefox from ppa.launchpadcontent.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu/, only for
> a
> few days later (once hours later) for snap to uninstall the real thing
> and
> install its snap version instead.
>
> I have tried a basic
> sudo snap remove firefox
>
> and when that didn't work
> sudo snap disable firefox
> sudo snap remove --purget firefox
>
> The former should be enough - that's a direct expression of my
> preferences,
> some thing like "You should have typed sudo snap remove
> --do-not-reinstall
> --disable-auto-ignore-preferences firefox" would not resolve this bug.
>
> When installing using apt-get, the correct version is being installed,
> and
> snap afterwards does not show the presence of firefox:
>
> Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/universe amd64
> xul-ext-ubufox all 3.4-0ubuntu1.17.10.1 [3,320 B]
> Get:2 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu jammy/main
> amd64 firefox-locale-en amd64 108.0+build2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1~mt1 [831 kB]
> Get:3 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu jammy/main
> amd64 firefox amd64 108.0+build2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1~mt1 [64.9 MB]
>
> Name Version Rev Tracking
> Publisher Notes
> authy 2.2.2 12
> latest/stable
> twilio-authy -
> bare 1.0 5
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ base
> chromium 108.0.5359.94 2238
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ -
> code 5235c6bb 114
> latest/stable
> vscode✓ classic
> core 16-2.57.6 14399
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ core
> core18 20221103 2632
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ base
> core20 20221123 1738
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ base
> cups 2.4.2-4 836
> latest/stable
> openprinting✓ -
> gnome-3-28-1804 3.28.0-19-g98f9e67.98f9e67 161
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ -
> gnome-3-38-2004 0+git.6f39565 119
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ -
> gtk-common-themes 0.1-81-g442e511 1535
> latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
> onlyoffice-desktopeditors 7.2.1 133
> latest/stable
> onlyoffice✓ -
> snap-store 41.3-66-gfe1e325 638
> latest/stable/… canonical✓ -
> snapd 2.57.6 17883
> latest/stable
> canonical✓ snapd
>
>
> /var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps contains (once firefox is removed):
>
> core18_1880.snap gnome-3-34-1804_36.snap gtk-common-themes_1506.snap
> snapd_8542.snap snap-store_467.snap
>
>
> https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2021/10/prevent-installing-firefox-snap-ubuntu-mate-21-10/
> claims that a similar issue affects Ubuntu MATE 21.04 and the solution
> was
> to type "sudo apt-mark manual firefox", which I have done, but that has
> not
> resolved the problem.
>
> I'm not here to explain why I wouldn't want the snap version, it is
> clearly
> a bug for snap to accept a command to uninstall something and then
> automatically reinstall it days later without the permission of the user,
> and especially galling that it removes the real version at the same time.
>
> I have lost data (passwords and history) because of this bug, because one
> of the many faults of the snap version is that it ignores the user's real
> ~/.mozilla profile and creates a shadow profile instead inside of the
> snap
> system.
>
> Please disable this behavior. It's obnoxious, it ignores EXPLICITY stated
> user preferences, and it causes the loss of data.
>
> I am unclear on what package is causing the behavior so for now marking
> it
> against Firefox, but it could be against some other piece of
> infrastructure
> related to snap:
>
> affects ubuntu/firefox
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1999308/+subscriptions
>
>
--
Paul Harrison
--
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mozilla
Bugs, which is subscribed to firefox in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1999308
Title:
Snap keeps uninstalling apt Firefox, and reinstalling snap Firefox
To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox/+bug/1999308/+subscriptions
More information about the Ubuntu-mozillateam-bugs
mailing list