Speaker
Description
Have you already thought about how the applications you develop get distributed to end users?
Often developers only provide the source code. So for not so tech-savvy users the major distributions need to pick up projects and package it, and maintain it for new releases.
This is why there is a need for distribution-independent, secure, and easy-to-use packaging, like on smartphones. This exists also for Linux ... Among the options, there is Snap! Applications are easy to find in the Snap Store and they are installable on most Linux distributions.
More about Snap: The Powers, The People
In this workshop we are here to introduce you to the Snap packaging format and guide you on how to create your first Snap. Hands-on exercises will be done on your laptop. We will start with simple GNOME applications and in the end we will help you snap your own application. And do not fear the daemons, we snap them, too!
What you need to bring
- Basic knowledge about compiling/installing programs under Linux
- No knowledge about programming or packaging needed!
- A laptop where you can run a Virtual Machine (*.qcow2 file, link will get posted later here), or a laptop running Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 or newer
Want to help?
If you are an experienced snapper, please join this session and help answering the attendee's questions.
Any other info we should know?
This is an interactive workshop for attendees to learn the basics of packaging applications in Snap format, ("snapping" applications) using snapcraft.
The workshop should be at least 90 minutes (without break) long but better should be 2-3 hours (with 1 or 2 short breaks).
Attendees will do several exercises on their own laptops, starting with snapping a simple GNOME application, refining the Snap for more functionality, and finally snapping their own application with Till's help.
We will introduce the basics of Snap packaging, the principals, sandboxing, interfaces to the outside world, build process, GNOME resources, instruction file ... all based on an example which the attendee downloads to their laptop and tries out.
At the end, users can try out their knowledge on their own application, and will get help, questions are answered, and special topics will be explained as needed.
We will need a room with tables and power outlets, so that attendees can use their laptops while charging them.
Session author's bio
Till is leader of OpenPrinting since it was founded in 2001, introduced the CUPS printing system in Mandrake Linux in 2000 working at MandrakeSoft and with this and a lot of evangelism (booths, talks, workshops) made the other distros also switch to CUPS, since 2006 printing maintainer at Canonical, co-organizing annual meetings with the Printer Working Group (PWG), since 2008 every year mentoring in Google Summer of Code, doing everything to make printing on Linux and alike operating systems "just work". Due to the fact that printing goes through several daemons (CUPS, Printer Applications) got a daemon snapper and Snap enthusiast and evangelist. Till is also fellow of the Linux Foundation.
| Level of Difficulty | Beginner |
|---|---|
| In Person Attendance | In-person |
| Please confirm that there are included headshots of all speakers in their profiles | Yes |
| Agree to Privacy Policy and Notice | I agree |
| Social Media | Mastodon: @till@ubuntu.social |