Snap – Where Snapd Puts Files for Installed Snap Apps

snapupgrade

After installing Kubuntu 20.04, I found that I had to use snap to obtain a current version of GIMP — which I did.

Now I'm looking ahead to needing to "upgrade" in a couple years, and it occurs to me to wonder if snapd put the installed files for GIMP in under my / folder (which will be reformatted, then refilled with Kubuntu 24.04, I presume) or in a hidden folder under my /home/[user] folder, where my desktop and locally stored files go (in a different partition, in my case).

If the former, I'll obviously need to used snapd in the new install to get a new, then-current version of GIMP; if the latter, how will I go about replacing the installed copy with one that's presumably a few years newer?

Best Answer

Snap files are installed under /snap.

  • GIMP application and snap-provided files will be under something like /snap/gimp. Snaps are read-only, so user data and customizations should NOT be stored here.
  • Your GIMP projects and data will be stored somewhere in your normal /home directory, exactly where you expect them to be. The files will be owned by you (not GIMP, not snapd) and have normal permissions.

Keep in mind that snapd will keep updating GIMP for the life of your system. Those updates are independent of the version of Ubuntu -- because you are using snaps, not debs.

When the time comes for you to upgrade/reinstall/replace your system, backup your data in /home and migrate your data onto your new system. DON'T backup /snap. Instead, simply install the GIMP snap on your new system.

  • As long as you use the same snap channel, the new GIMP snap will use exactly the same GIMP version you had an hour before on your old system.
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