Are snap packages in Ubuntu 20.04 safe? Some (installed by default) show "Source Unknown" [closed]

Solution 1:

Ubuntu Software (aka Snap Store) shows both applications installed as snaps and as .deb packages. Most of the default applications you see there after fresh installation are in fact .deb packages. The only ones that are actual snaps are Snap Store itself and a few core runtime libraries (The snap daemon snapd, core of the snap system, is a special case, because it has a part installed as .deb package, but also a snap part). No more snaps are installed by default in a fresh Ubuntu installation.

You can distinguish .deb packages from snaps by the fact that snaps will always have a "channel" (usually latest/stable) mentioned in their details. If there is no channel, then this is a .deb package, not a snap. You can also type a command snap list in the terminal to list installed snaps.

In particular, "Print Settings" is a .deb package system-config-printer from Ubuntu repositories. Snap Store showing "source unknown" may be just a bug in Snap Store, or there may be a bug in package metadata.

If you want to have greater control over what is installed in your system, install Synaptic Package Manager (you can install it from Snap Store, although it is not a snap, but a .deb package). With Synaptic, you can have a detailed view of all .deb packages installed on your system (it works for .deb packages only) and where do they come from, install and remove them. In my opinion, it's a "must have" tool and should be installed by default.