Saturday, March 24, 2018

libreoffice - Will snap packages get differential (delta) updates?


I downloaded and installed LibreOffice 5.2.0 beta2 as described in LibreOffice 5.2.0 beta2 as a snap package. It weighed in at 1015 MiB.


There will certainly be more updates before the RC is out. My question is this: will snap packages get differential (delta) updates or will the entire snap package, 1 GiB in this case, have to be downloaded each time?


(BTW: this version fixes the long-standing vanishing clipboard content issue!)


Postscript question: I want to know if I can delete libreoffice_5.2.0.0.beta2_amd64.snap, the 1 GiB "source" file, or must it remain on the system for the delta updates to work?



This OMG! Ubuntu article says delta:



Newer Apps, Larger


One side-effect of the ‘bundle’ approach is, naturally, a larger
initial package size.


But Snaps are clever; transactional and delta updates allows devs to
only upgrade the parts that need updating, be it a single lib, an app
icon, or the entire freaking thing.



The documentation on Snappy Ubuntu Core also mentions these points:




  • The OS and application files are kept completely separate, as a set of distinct read-only images.

  • Transactional, image-based delta updates for the system and applications that can always be rolled back.

  • These files are read-only, which means they cannot be tampered with and can be updated perfectly and predictably every time.

  • Signatures and fingerprints ensure you’re running exactly what was published by the developer, no funny business even if the bits came
    from the internet.

  • Delta management keeps the size of downloads to the bare minimum.



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