jamiebennett09

You should be using just 'libreoffice' on the command line or to be 100% sure, /snap/bin/libreoffice or running it from the dash (second icon per the blog post if you have both deb and snap installed). Why snap run? Also, knowing which version of snapd and which Ubuntu version would be interesting but if you feel this is a bug then it would be great to see more information at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/snapd.

That would be the same with any platform that does not use some kind of explicit linking/sharing of resources. Snaps have a sharing mechanism called interfaces but yes, the software author has to declare they want to use it, no magic there.

Exactly, you can even have the same application as a snap and a deb. PATH resolution will call the first one defined in your environment but that can be obviously be changed and when you are happy with the snap-only offering you can remove the deb if necessary (or visa-versa).

Generally the snap will be much more up to date.

Installing from the Ubuntu Archive with apt-get means you get the version that was released with that version of the OS, say Ubuntu 16.10, sometimes with minor updates. With Snaps you get the version that the software developer pushes to you which could be their latest stable software released just yesterday (there is a concept of Snap channels that open up things like beta/candidate/daily builds e.t.c. but that is another topic).

Snaps can also update themselves, allow dependency bundling, are confined in sandboxes e.t.c. but for a user, it means you get very fresh software on your device. You can read more about them at https://snapcraft.io/