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cmake: use the cmake snap by default

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Metadata

Project
craft-parts
Number
#938
Type
pull request
State
open
Author
soumyaDghosh
Labels
—
Created
Updated
Closed
—

Current evaluation

Prolets the cmake plugin pull cmake from the cmake snap instead of the deb, adding an option to pick the cmake source; maintainers rejected the snap-by-default change as breaking, author silent since Dec 2024

Suggested action: close not mergeable

Reason: tigarmo explicitly rejected the core proposal — "Changing the default to use the snap is a no-go, this will for sure break existing projects" — and sergiusens only considered a build-package fallback for core26+. lengau and kenvandine proposed an alternative (skip the cmake build-package when a cmake-deps part is a dependency), which this PR does not implement; tigarmo later called that alternative "a hacky way" and the author has not responded since 2024-12-20, so the design remains unresolved and the current cmake_plugin.py still hardcodes {"gcc", "cmake"} as build packages.

Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot

Impact: 55 Quick Win: 6 Complexity: 28 Confidence: 88 Actionability: 15

Issue body

- allow using the cmake snap or deb - add an option to specify the source for cmake The snap is set by default because 1. It's more up-to-date and can run on any base reliably 2. Debs have a path precedence over the snaps, so, if the cmake snap is shipped with the cmake, the cmake deb is used by default until the `PATH` is overriden, which is problematic. see [here](https://invent.kde.org/network/neochat/-/merge_requests/2055) --- - [x] Have you signed the [CLA](http://www.ubuntu.com/legal/contributors/)?

Evaluation history

Date Model Scores Action Summary
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 55
Quick Win: 6
Complexity: 28
Confidence: 88
Actionability: 15
close not mergeable Prolets the cmake plugin pull cmake from the cmake snap instead of the deb, adding an option to pick the cmake source; maintainers rejected the snap-by-default change as breaking, author silent since Dec 2024
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
Impact: 15
Quick Win: 0
Complexity: 10
Confidence: 90
Actionability: 0
close not mergeable PR proposes using cmake snap by default in craft-parts cmake plugin. Maintainers rejected the approach as a breaking change; author inactive for 198 days.
qwen/qwen3.8-27b
Impact: 55
Quick Win: 25
Staleness: 65
Complexity: 55
Confidence: 80
close not mergeable Adds an option to source cmake from the snap and makes the cmake snap the default in the cmake plugin. Maintainers rejected the default change as breaking; author unresponsive for ~6 months. No CI, no approvals.
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
Staleness: 75
Complexity: 20
Confidence: 90
close not mergeable Suggests defaulting CMake to the snap package and adds a source configuration option. Maintainers rejected the default change due to backward compatibility risks, recommending PATH overrides or core26+ adjustments instead.
qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6
Staleness: 90
Complexity: 20
Confidence: 90
close not mergeable Proposes switching default CMake source from deb to snap. Maintainers rejected the default change due to backward compatibility concerns. Discussion shifted to alternative workarounds and long-term plugin improvements. PR remains unupdated.

Update history

No update history recorded yet.

Related work

  • Related To: craft-parts#948 (confidence 75%)

    Explicitly cited by lengau in the review: PATH manipulation is undocumented, which is the blocker for the suggested fix; now closed by merged PR #949.

  • Related To: canonical/snapcraft#2399 (confidence 60%)

    Merged snapcraft PR changing the CMake plugin to use build snaps for search paths — the same snap-vs-deb problem addressed downstream instead.

Related issues

No related issues found above the similarity threshold.