Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snap packages

Posted Jul 9, 2020 15:26 UTC (Thu) by DigitalBrains (subscriber, #60188)
In reply to: Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snap packages by simosx
Parent article: Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snap packages

> As these are packaged inside VMs, it does not make sense why it would not be reproducible.

I think you're using a different notion of reproducibility here than is common. Reproducability means I can download a binary compiled by someone else, and using the source code, verify that it was indeed built from *that* source. In essence, I will compile a binary myself and be able to prove the binary I downloaded is the same as my binary. This requires specific things in the compilation process, for instance, there can't be any timestamps of the build or non-deterministic behaviour in compilation.

Your notion of reproducability seems merely to say everybody can setup a build environment.

Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snap packages

Posted Jul 9, 2020 15:43 UTC (Thu) by IanKelling (subscriber, #89418) [Link]

> I think you're using a different notion of reproducibility here than is common.

You're right. I shouldn't have said reproducible. I should have said someting like buildable, or rebuildable.

Linux Mint drops Ubuntu Snap packages

Posted Jul 9, 2020 15:48 UTC (Thu) by simosx (guest, #24338) [Link]

> Your notion of reproducability seems merely to say everybody can setup a build environment.

You do not "setup a build environment" yourself. The software (snapcraft and the Build service) launch the same build environment in a brand new VM of a generic Ubuntu image. The pieces are there so that two different users may well end up with the same binaries.
Whether this is offered as a future service, it looks to be easy to implement.