Upgrading Ubuntu with postgresql as snap vs apt install

Question

I was just sitting here wondering:

I'm quite used to working with Sql Server (Microsoft's Version) and not entirely a newbie with MySQL. But i sit here with my Ubuntu 16.04 LTS desktop Developer machine at home, and read about the marvels of installing snaps.

Then i read about PostgreSql as a snap, and it hits me that I believe i read something about it being hard to do a system upgrade with PostgreSql installed in your system. So i was wondering if having a PostgreSql Snap package installed instead would change that, since the PostgreSql Server is then technically isolated?

I did some googleling but could not seem to find a clear answer. Anyhow, this is a question of mere curiosity, but thank you for your time.

Answer 1

If your reference to a difficult system upgrade with postgres installed, this is not true.

What's difficult for some is when one builds an infrastructure around a specific version of postgres, and then later a system upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu includes a newer postgres, which may have broken compatibility with all the custom infrastructure built on the old version.

Being packaged in snap form doesn't make this any easier or harder to deal with, in and of itself. What matters here is how the packaging is done. If there are different versioned packages for each version of postgres, then it can be easier to stay on a particular version, and to choose when to upgrade to the newer versions. However, this can also leave you with a happily running and insecure version of postgres, if you don't keep up to date with the latest versions and keep your custom software built around the older versions, especially when they stop receiving any security updates.