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I recently asked a question on ask Ubuntu How to tell whether the snap or apt version is being used? which was well received and got two excellent answers and 11 upvotes. Then today, 3 days after it was posted, someone edited the title, the text and removed a tag. I wasn't happpy with this and wanted MY question to be titled as I thought it should be. I don't think this is much to ask, after all people liked the question as it was and it had had hundreds of views without comprehension problems. However this user rolled back the title again and again. Eventually moderator Thomas Ward gave the question a compromised title and locked it.

I have been a member of ask Ubuntu for years now and have 2184 reputation points, and I take exception to the way I have been treated regarding this issue. After all I just want to be allowed to keep my own, perfectly understandable and accurate, title to my own question. Search the web and you will find many other articles about "Snap vs Apt" as it is a perfectly legitimate question.

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    I don't care much either way, but I really don't think the question has anything to do with the apt tag. It absolutely does not matter to what you're asking at its core whether the non-snap version was installed via apt, aptitude, synaptic, the software centre or via dpkg or even via manually extracting the deb file.
    – muru
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 16:46
  • Surely APTitude and synAPTtic are so named after the Advanced Package Tool or apt.
    – SteveInBavaria
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 16:55
  • How surprising. I suppose ar, tar, dpkg and the Ubuntu Software app are also named after apt?
    – muru
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 16:58
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    You are using votes as an argument, which is in both the real world as well as on AU a horrible, horrible one. If MY question is upvoted 100x or by the whole world, but is technically incorrect, it should be improved. "After all I just want to be allowed to keep my own, perfectly understandable and accurate, title to my own question - if it's incorrect -> no. I'd be happy if someone improves it.
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 17:06
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    It's even a more horrible argument since all but two of the upvotes occurred after it became a Hot Network Question, i.e. it has been voted on by users like me with no Ubuntu knowledge at all.
    – Glorfindel
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 17:28
  • What's all this talk of "horrible,horrible" arguments about? Is that how people answer questions on this forum? Isn't it all a bit emotional?
    – SteveInBavaria
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 18:24
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    Emotional is when you take a technically perfect edit personal, and refuse to accept it because you want to keep it YOUR version. Using upvotes in a single situation as an argument to get your way is, well yes, horrible. Actual arguments is what counts only. Both in the real world as well as on AU.
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 19:56
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    Also the lock is temporary - i hate rollback wars and having to squash edits and such, but there are a lot of cases where that devolves into a constant war - so my apologies for having to step in and come up with a 'compromise' in this case. (I really dislike doing it but it's one of the tasks and powers moderators sometimes have to exercise heh.)
    – Thomas Ward Mod
    Commented Jun 9, 2020 at 20:00
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    @SteveInBavaria it's automated. It's a known problem that the selection process is no indicator of quality of the post. There are numerous discussions on Meta Stack Exchange about this, including, for example: meta.stackexchange.com/q/238420/270345 meta.stackexchange.com/q/317418/270345 meta.stackexchange.com/q/334877/270345 meta.stackexchange.com/q/245390/270345 meta.stackexchange.com/q/327207/270345 meta.stackexchange.com/q/284929/270345
    – muru
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 9:43

2 Answers 2

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This is not a full answer to the question, as I don't feel I have anything helpful to say about any aspect of the situation except possibly the content of the post.

Firstly, thanks for posting that useful question.

Secondly, it does seem that the question would benefit slightly from a clarification, as Braiam's comments on the question rightly (well, he's the expert on that topic, not me) point out that the phrase "apt version" is somewhat misleading.

Thirdly, while I do think the edit to your question made it more accurate, I am not sure it made it more clear or more accessible. As you suggested in your question here, readers may be familiar with a "Snap vs. APT" debate (although your question does not pertain to that debate, I think) and Ubuntu users in particular are very likely to be using APT for package management. Since the question is not actually about packaging formats or package management, I think the original wording was probably acceptable. (I also think this probably makes the tag unnecessary (the question is not about APT itself)). I was not even sure myself that the snap version did not come from some Ubuntu snap repository of sorts and had to ask about it in chat.

Although I think both the original wording and the current wording are both more-or-less ok, I would like to suggest a wording for your question that avoids sort-of implying that APT has its own particular versions of software, rather than just happening to be the package manager most commonly called by users on the command line in Ubuntu to install software from the Ubuntu repositories (you can tell I'm struggling to come up with an accurate description that is actually readable) and also avoids omitting the mention of APT altogether.

How about this?

If I were to install the same application both as a snap and using APT, how would I be able to call each one separately and how would I know which one was running?

and for the title:

If I've installed an application both as a snap and via APT, how can I tell which one is currently running?

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    @ Zanna Thank you for that and I find your suggestions acceptable. All I really wanted was a little respect, and felt that Braiam's continuing to edit the title of my question to something I didn't agree with without giving me a clear reason of why it was neccessary, was arrogant and rude to say the least.
    – SteveInBavaria
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 6:40
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    @SteveInBavaria yes, I have lost my temper really horribly in much less stressful edit war situations than this one so I feel you. BTW we are still discussing your question in the chat I linked to in my answer, and other users there think your original wording was perfectly fine.
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 6:52
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Unwanted edits to my question in ask Ubuntu

You have to ask yourself: why unwanted?

Reading the question, it is clear that neither of you should have done what you did in the edit war. The simple answer should be a one-liner: Flag for moderator intervention. Case closed.

Both the question body as well as the comments you posted might however be subject to discussion.

Reading your Meta post above, you suggest that the edit should be denied for the following reasons:

  • ..."was well received and got two excellent answers and 11 upvotes"
  • ..."I wasn't happpy with this and wanted MY question to be titled as I thought it should be"
  • ..."people liked the question as it was and it had had hundreds of views without comprehension problems"
  • ..."I just want to be allowed to keep my own, perfectly understandable and accurate, title to my own question"

And in comments, I read:

  • "...So in your opinion Braiam is right and everybody else in the would is wrong..."

  • "...You are saying that only Braiam can possibly be correct..."

I read no technical argument whatsoever.

For the record, I never mentioned who is technically right or wrong. If however someone like Braiam, who is technically top-shelf, would edit one of my posts, I would scratch my head a few times before I'd roll back, and I am not a beginner. The arguments you mention in your post, as summed up above, seem to say you are not really aware of the concept of AU.

I would ask you to change your focus away from being hypersensitive on your personal contribution. Shift your ambition to cooperating in creating good and technically correct content.

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