Re: What exactly is Snap or Flatpack ?

Lars Poulsen <lars@cleo.beagle-ears.com> wrote:

I feel like I have been living under a rock for the the last decade
whenever people mention /snap/ and /flatpack/.
 
1) Are they the same idea as /kubernetes/, and if not, then what is
   *that*?

In a /similar/ ballpark, but not quite /the same/:

Snap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_(software)

Flatpak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatpak

2) What is the difference between them (other than that they are two
   incompatible brands, like /apt/ and /yum/ (aka /dnf/) are functionally
   the same thing, but incompatible with each other)?

They are very similar to each other, to the point that one looks to be
a NIH syndrome [1] of the other.

Is it just packaging the executable with all the libraries it references
and a wrapper that sets up paths to those libraries, or is there a
virtual machine involved?

Both run inside a "sandbox".  So they therefore depend upon whether
your definition of "virtual machine" extends to include "sandboxed"
software.

Do these wrapped applications see the full file system, or is there a
shell game of /chroot/ and links or loopback mounts to break out?

Presumably they have a limited view of the native filesystem.  The snap
wikipedia page says "limited access to the host system" but does not
define if the "limits" included "limited access to native filesystem". 
The Flatpak wikipedia page says "Flatpak[s] need permission to access
... files" so it somewhat more explicitly implies a limited view of the
native filesystem.

At 74 I am old, but I hope to still learn some new things!

[1] Not Invented Here