snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources but ignores /etc/apt/preferences
Metadata
Current evaluation
APT host pinning was reported ignored in 2016; the Zesty/Yakkety reproducer is obsolete, while modern Snapcraft supports declared repository priorities through craft-archives, leaving host-preference behavior to revalidate.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The reporter supplied concrete Zesty/Yakkety steps after @~elopio requested them, but they rely on EOL releases and an external paste. The current tree delegates package repositories to craft-archives and has a spread test for a declared priority of 999, but there is no evidence about propagating arbitrary host preferences; with no labels or modern confirmation, this needs triage.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
7
Complexity:
55
Confidence:
82
Actionability:
35
Issue body
This means that if you have a somewhat complex setup, you will end up with snapcraft getting the wrong packages since the preferences file will be ignored
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
7
Complexity:
55
Confidence:
82
Actionability:
35
|
needs triage | APT host pinning was reported ignored in 2016; the Zesty/Yakkety reproducer is obsolete, while modern Snapcraft supports declared repository priorities through craft-archives, leaving host-preference behavior to revalidate. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
51
Quick Win:
21
Complexity:
43
Confidence:
82
Actionability:
72
|
needs triage | APT pinning was reported to be ignored during build package selection; the old reproducer is detailed, while modern Snapcraft delegates preference handling to craft-archives, leaving status unresolved. | |
| Gemma 4 (26b) |
Impact:
50
Quick Win:
18
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
60
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources but ignores /etc/apt/preferences, potentially leading to incorrect package selection in complex setups. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
18
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
40
Confidence:
70
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources but ignores /etc/apt/preferences, causing wrong package selection in complex setups. 9.8 years old, zero comments, no labels, no maintainer interaction. Current codebase uses craft-archives with AptPreferencesManager, a completely different architecture. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
15
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources.list but ignores /etc/apt/preferences, causing incorrect package resolution in complex setups. Unaddressed for nearly 10 years with no maintainer interaction. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
5
|
close stale | Snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources but ignores /etc/apt/preferences, causing incorrect package resolution. Unaddressed for nearly a decade with no maintainer interaction or labels. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Reports that snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources.list but ignores /etc/apt/preferences, potentially causing incorrect package resolution. Unaddressed for nearly 10 years with zero comments or maintainer engagement. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1583236 snapcraft APT sources checking too strict | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Snapcraft still turns any apt-get update failure into a package-list refresh error; this old report needs a modern reproducer and a policy for distinguishing harmless source failures. |