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Questions. (1) What Lubuntu's stance on snap? (2) Is Lubuntu currently less focused on older hardware than it used to be?

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It's been more focused on being lightweight than targeting "old hardware" directly for a while now: "The project’s goal is to provide a lightweight yet functional Linux distribution based on a rock-solid Ubuntu base.". Snap has been included by default since 18.10 which was also when they dropped 32 bit x86 builds.

Because snaps are certainly not lightweight.

Supporting things isn't exclusive with aiming to be "lightweight but functional". You're still free to not use snaps.

Sure. But will some common used apps like browsers, office suites, IDEs be shipped as snaps?

Please, Canonical, just for once use the default and stick with Flatpak like everyone else. We don't need another Mir, Upstart, Unity, ...

Why not even Docker, then?

Different usecase.

But isn't deploying applications one of its use cases?

But by wieldly different users (devs&ops vs everyone if it's up to Ubuntu), and in different kinds of computers (servers vs desktops).

How about subuser, then?

I think flatpak is coming with 20.04 given that's going to be in Pop OS 20.04 which is based on Ubuntu

I'm not a fan of containerization of base OS apps at all (planning on using it for for Chrome, Skype, Slack, and other Electron-based cross-platform apps only) but I'm pretty sure Ubuntu is mainstream enough at this point that Canonical pretty much dictates the shape of the Linux desktop for third-party apps while "everyone else" includes "just" RH (who still do/finance a large part of kernel development, of course).

But maybe I'm overlooking something, so if somebody with a distro maintainance or third party appdev background could share why settling on snaps causes trouble or undue extra work or is less-than-optimal I'd appreciate it.

> stick with Flatpak like everyone else

Can you please write who "everyone else" is?

"Everyone Else" sounds like some Ubuntu release :-)

You can install snapd on Ubuntu and then install the snap package manager which is a snap. There is nothing that forbids Lubuntu to use snaps.

I'm more interested in not using snap. How hard would that be? (as it seems to be installed by default)

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