Snaps are containerised software packages that are simple to create and install. They auto-update and are safe to run. And because they bundle their dependencies, they work on all major Linux systems without modification.
Two yaml files are distributed:
snapcraft.yaml This uses tarball releases for all dependencies and what is currently in tree for fwupd.
snapcraft-master.yaml This uses git for most dependencies and may be considered unstable.
Builds can be performed using snapcraft:
# snapcraft cleanbuild
A “classic” snap is produced, and locally built snaps can be installed like this:
# snap install fwupd_daily_amd64.snap --dangerous --classic
The --dangerous flag is because snaps built locally are not signed. Snaps distributed by a store will not need this flag.