Anyone can continue distributing Deb packages and hosting their own Deb repositories and personal package archives. Ubuntu will still continue working the same way, with the base system and software repositories being made up of Deb packages. I wrote more about how “Snappy” packages work in the past. Snaps can bundle their own versions of system libraries, so they won’t depend on the installation of other packages or libraries. When you install a Snap package, it will install to its own directory and won’t mess with the rest of your system. Snaps are different, and more self-contained. The package has dependencies, so your Linux system may have to install other packages with specific versions of libraries to support a Deb file. A Deb package is an archive of files that, when installed, are generally placed in various system directories. This is similar to other Linux package formats, like the RPM packages that Fedora and Red Hat use. The Deb package format comes from Debian, which Ubuntu is based on. Traditionally, Ubuntu has used the Deb package format. The underlying Ubuntu system will continue to use Deb packages, but Snap packages can be installed alongside Debs. Ubuntu 16.04 will support two different package formats for applications: Snaps and Debs.
