this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Ubuntu's Mozillateam PPA now forcing users over to snap install for Firefox. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 year ago by PseudoSpock@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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What use to be the PPA that allowed Ubuntu users to use native .deb packages for Firefox has recently changed to the same meta package that forces installation of Snap and the Firefox snap package.

I am having to remove the meta package, then re-uninstall the snap firefox, then re-uninstall Snap, then install pin the latest build I could get (firefox_116.0.3+build2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1~mt1_arm64.deb) to keep the native firefox build.

I'm so done with Ubuntu.

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[–] cmeerw@programming.dev 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Flatpaks can guarantee you have a known-good dependency chain directly tested by the developers/maintainers themselves

What does known-good mean? What if a security vulnerability is found in one of the dependencies. With an old-style distribution there is a security team that monitors security reports and they will provide a fixed package. With flatpaks it's not clear to me if those developers will monitor each dependency for security vulnerabilities and how they will handle that. Will users even be informed about a security issue, will a fix be backported or will it only be available in the latest version?

[–] bear@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What does known-good mean?

Known-good meaning a tested and working configuration approved by the developers/maintainers.

What if a security vulnerability is found in one of the dependencies. With an old-style distribution there is a security team that monitors security reports and they will provide a fixed package.

Flatpak is just another model of distribution. There isn't really anything that needs to change here. The bugs are fixed upstream and they get pushed via the method of distribution, which is Flathub in this case.

The security team in a given distribution is charged with getting upstream fixes backported and shipped. There's no need for this role because they're just shipped directly in most cases.

With flatpaks it's not clear to me if those developers will monitor each dependency for security vulnerabilities and how they will handle that.

The developers are usually the ones doing the fixes in the first place.

Will users even be informed about a security issue, will a fix be backported or will it only be available in the latest version?

Well, fixes don't normally need to be backported because flatpaks are usually fresh. They're just built normally in most cases.

For notifications, you'd have to follow the relevant projects directly.

[–] cmeerw@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

Known-good meaning a tested and working configuration The bugs are fixed upstream and they get pushed via the method of distribution, which is Flathub in this case. Well, fixes don’t normally need to be backported because flatpaks are usually fresh.

There are a few assumptions in here in order for that to work: the known-good version needs to be the latest upstream version (otherwise you might not have the latest security fixes) and users need to be comfortable always using the latest flatpak version. Some users might be more comfortable staying on a known stable version for some time.

For notifications, you’d have to follow the relevant projects directly.

Right, and each project will have its own way of handling security issues (particularly when it comes to older versions). Will they point out that versions x - y of their flatpak are affected by a security issue in component z?