> Snap packages are effectively black-boxes; they cannot be reproduced independently as the packaging data is controlled by the package maker alone.
One of the nice properties of debian packages is the ability to `apt-get source` and build it locally. Would be a shame to lose that.
Maybe Nix and Guix can provide the best of both worlds here: self-contained software but reproducible builds too.
The capability is necessary because snaps can also ship proprietary software (eg. Spotify, Skype, etc). So one wouldn't expect this to be a property of (binary) snaps, just as it isn't for binary debs. apt/deb comes with "source package building tooling" (dpkg-source, dpkg-buildpackage, policy around debian/rules, etc) and so do snaps (snapcraft).
I think Nix/Guix is going to be the bridge to the post-POSIX world where we can move away from the trend of a globally visible filesystem and into much stronger container-based approach. But it can't be in its current form; the Nix language and Guix's Guile/Scheme are too difficult and not declarative enough.
I understand why there's consternation about usability (and a steady stream of requests focused on helping novices get it up and running), but I'm not sure the project(s)/ecosystem are ready for the stress of getting strapped to a growth rocket that brings in many new non-developer general-computing users who can't reasonably contribute back.
I don't mean this in an elitist RTFM way. More users of any stripe just inevitably exert support pressure in all sorts of directions. The community is perpetually iterating on tools/automation/process issues to try and stay on the right side of the wave. I sympathize with everyone who has a tough time finding their legs, but for the near term I think it is probably a net good if ergonomics issues filter out people for whom most distros are effectively fungible.
BTW most people don't need to write a full-fledged "script" to get their system up and running. All they need to specify are some configuration variables that specifies the sort of things you'd need to specify anyways if you're going to setup a new system, like which packages should be installed. With NixOS, you write those things on a file instead of typing it on the command line.
So don't lose that. Use Debian (or Devuan), or one of its properly-FOSS derivative distributions.
You don't get that for a lot of third party apt repos actually, no deb-src repo.