The disk usage under /snap was reported for the following as:
1.7G gnome-3-34-1804
1.8G gnome-3-38-2004
2.6G gnome-42-2204
3.2G gnome-46-2404
I don’t have the installation to use the GNOME desktop as an option, at least I don’t think so. It is not a choice offered on the login window.
Does MATE have dependencies on those?
If so, do I need to keep all 4 instances, or can I purge the 3 oldest and keep only “46-2404” ?
If you don’t use snap you can delete them all.
You can use my script to remove all traces of snap completely from your system (or reinstall it if you regret it)
I removed all snap because it is securitywise the most vulnerable packagesystem for supplychain attacks.
Here is a quote from the forementioned link:
- Alan Pope, a former Canonical employee and Snap Store maintainer, publicly stated that malware reports could go unresolved for days — and that the cycle had repeated itself more than once across different fake wallet apps.
- Domain takeover hijacking was also used — attackers registered typosquat domains that intercepted update checks from installed fake wallets, allowing the malicious payload to persist and evolve even after initial detection.
- ~50 Snap packages were estimated by insiders to have malware reports outstanding at any given time — with removal delays spanning multiple days after initial reports, according to publicly available community threads.
- Canonical’s response speed was not proportionate to a company generating $292M in annual revenue, 83% gross margins, and growing its headcount year over year. The security team’s reaction time suggested understaffing relative to the store’s scale.
Technically, a sandbox around an application should increase security so the idea of snap is sound. It’s the snap-store implementation that sucks.
snap packages don’t technically have dependencies in regards deb packages; but they do have connections to other snap packages that are the same as dependencies except in name (design choice). (‘tomato’ vs ‘tomato’ pronunciation I guess ; The Mustang | Opinion: The Only Correct Pronunciation of “Tomato” )
Those aren’t used by the GNOME desktop; but maybe used by other snap packages you may have installed; and you’ll break them if removed.
As example, I did a snap list on this box, and I see gnome-46-2404 installed on my box here; and that’s not a snap package I’ve installed, so a quick check and I’ll see what uses it, and thus what maybe broken if I removed it
guiverc@d7050-next:~$ snap connections gnome-46-2404
Interface Plug Slot Notes
content[gnome-46-2404] chromium:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] desktop-security-center:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] element-desktop:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] firefox:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] firmware-updater:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] opera:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] prompting-client:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] snap-store:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] snapd-desktop-integration:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] telegram-desktop:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] vivaldi:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gnome-46-2404] zoitechat:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
I’m replying here using the brave browser which uses gnome-42-2204 and thus that wouldn’t be impacted if I removed gnome-46-2404, but it would be impacted if I removed that older version.
Which connections are used is determined by the builder of the snap package; somewhat like depends rules for deb packages actually…
I believe it’s safe to delete all snaps. I did that on my “regular” Ubuntu GNOME system and nothing breaks. GNOME does not depend on any snap so I wouldn’t imagine MATE does.
Thank you, Thom!
I didn’t know that Alan Pope himself had raised issues about the SNAP supply chain. I guess that is why he started working on a tool for checking SNAP packages. 
Thank you, Chris! That’s a command I needed to know to make my own determinations.
I am still running 22.04 LTS. This is my full list of SNAP packages installed currently:
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
bare 1.0 5 latest/stable canonical✓ base
canonical-livepatch v10.16.2 406 latest/stable canonical✓ -
chromium 149.0.7827.53 3459 latest/stable canonical✓ -
core18 20260204 2999 latest/stable canonical✓ base
core20 20260410 2866 latest/stable canonical✓ base
core22 20260225 2411 latest/stable canonical✓ base
core24 20260410 1643 latest/stable canonical✓ base
cups 2.4.19-2 1206 latest/stable openprinting✓ -
gnome-3-34-1804 0+git.3556cb3 93 latest/stable canonical✓ -
gnome-3-38-2004 0+git.efb213a 143 latest/stable canonical✓ -
gnome-42-2204 0+git.c1d3d69-sdk0+git.015db9a 247 latest/stable canonical✓ -
gnome-46-2404 0+git.f1cd5fa-sdk0+git.ca9c59c 153 latest/stable canonical✓ -
gs 10.02.1 x1 - - devmode
gtk-common-themes 0.1-81-g442e511 1535 latest/stable canonical✓ -
mesa-2404 25.0.7-snap211 1165 latest/stable canonical✓ -
snapd 2.75.2 26865 latest/stable canonical✓ snapd
software-boutique 0+git.0fdcecc 57 latest/stable/… flexiondotorg classic
ubuntu-mate-welcome 22.04.0-d3d4bb1a 726 latest/stable/… flexiondotorg classic
None of those, except Chromium, were specifically installed by me, and I did not realize that it was a SNAP rather than Debian. 
Like I did for Firefox, I will work thru the issues for me to have Chromium as non-SNAP. No need for help on this dependency.
Working thru the dependencies one at a time:
# snap connections canonical-livepatch
Interface Plug Slot Notes
hardware-observe canonical-livepatch:hardware-observe :hardware-observe -
kernel-module-control canonical-livepatch:kernel-module-control :kernel-module-control -
log-observe canonical-livepatch:log-observe :log-observe -
network-bind canonical-livepatch:network-bind :network-bind -
network-control canonical-livepatch:network-control :network-control -
network-manager canonical-livepatch:network-manager :network-manager -
system-files canonical-livepatch:etc-dpkg :system-files -
system-files canonical-livepatch:etc-update-motd-d :system-files -
system-files canonical-livepatch:hostfs-var-lib-dpkg :system-files -
system-files canonical-livepatch:hostfs-var-local-canonical-livepatch-mode :system-files -
system-files canonical-livepatch:run-cloud-init-instance-data-json :system-files -
system-files canonical-livepatch:sys-kernel-livepatch :system-files -
system-observe canonical-livepatch:system-observe :system-observe -
system-packages-doc canonical-livepatch:system-packages-doc :system-packages-doc -
IF I remove the canonical-livepatch SNAP, is there a separate package I need to install, or is that the SNAP pushed out which was intended for servers rather than desktop?
If you can freely reboot whenever you want, livepatch has no added value in my opinion. As far as I can see, you only “need” snap for:
chromium which can be replaced by any browser with the same engine (like Brave for instance)
Also the software boutique and ubuntu-mate-welcome depend on snap, but I guess they are no longer updated since 22.04 is already 4 years old and no longer supported. So in my opinion you won’t lose much if you dump snap completely.
As a replacement of Firefox you can add the official mozilla PPA which gives you Firefox ESR or you can add the official Librewolf PPA. Both are trusted.
IMPORTANT: Before using my script, uninstall livepatch first
So … if I enter
# snap connections chromium
I get the below list of “plugs”:
Interface Plug Slot Notes
audio-playback chromium:audio-playback :audio-playback -
audio-record chromium:audio-record :audio-record -
bluez chromium:bluez :bluez -
browser-support chromium:browser-sandbox :browser-support -
camera chromium:camera :camera -
content[gnome-46-2404] chromium:gnome-46-2404 gnome-46-2404:gnome-46-2404 -
content[gpu-2404] chromium:gpu-2404 mesa-2404:gpu-2404 -
content[gtk-3-themes] chromium:gtk-3-themes gtk-common-themes:gtk-3-themes -
content[icon-themes] chromium:icon-themes gtk-common-themes:icon-themes -
content chromium:install-cups-runtime-dependency - -
content[sound-themes] chromium:sound-themes gtk-common-themes:sound-themes -
cups chromium:cups cups:cups -
desktop chromium:desktop :desktop -
desktop-legacy chromium:desktop-legacy :desktop-legacy -
gsettings chromium:gsettings :gsettings -
hardware-observe chromium:hardware-observe :hardware-observe -
hidraw chromium:hidraw - -
home chromium:home :home -
joystick chromium:joystick :joystick -
kerberos-tickets chromium:kerberos-tickets - -
mount-observe chromium:mount-observe - -
mpris - chromium:mpris -
network chromium:network :network -
network-bind chromium:network-bind :network-bind -
network-manager chromium:network-manager - -
opengl chromium:opengl :opengl -
password-manager-service chromium:password-manager-service :password-manager-service manual
pcscd chromium:pcscd - -
personal-files chromium:chromium-config :personal-files -
personal-files chromium:dot-local-share-applications :personal-files -
personal-files chromium:dot-local-share-icons :personal-files -
raw-usb chromium:raw-usb - -
removable-media chromium:removable-media :removable-media -
screen-inhibit-control chromium:screen-inhibit-control :screen-inhibit-control -
serial-port chromium:serial-port - -
system-files chromium:etc-chromium-browser-policies :system-files -
system-packages-doc chromium:system-packages-doc :system-packages-doc -
timezone-control chromium:timezone-control - -
u2f-devices chromium:u2f-devices :u2f-devices -
unity7 chromium:unity7 :unity7 -
upower-observe chromium:upower-observe :upower-observe -
wayland chromium:wayland :wayland -
x11 chromium:x11 :x11 -
Do I need to use the snap command with some options to disable or disconnect any of those plugs before purging Chomium by entering
sudo snap remove --purge chromium
If I remember correctly, the snap remove command disconnects these plugs when uninstalling.
Yes, that is correct. The snap remove command disconnects these plugs automatically.
(b.t.w. My script also takes care of uninstalling all snaps in the right order.)