14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical has been maintaining an Ubuntu Next version that features the Unity 8 desktop environment and the Mir display server, which is designed to work on the desktop. They have announced that the current .deb based version of Ubuntu Next will be replaced with a version based on Snappy.
Canonical is releasing Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) today and everyone is looking forward to it, especially since it comes for numerous platforms and flavors. The developers have decided to announce amidst all of this that the Ubuntu Next version is going to switch from a .deb-based version to a Snappy version.
Some of you might not know that Canonical is working on a new Unity 8 environment that should land on the desktop, by default, in the next couple of years. They are also planning to replace the current X server with a new one called Mir, which is built in-house.
What is this Snappy you're talking about?
Snappy is a new edition of Ubuntu that comes with a much simple mechanism for delivering updates and new apps, through the famous click packages. As expected, these click packages will only work in Ubuntu, and the base needs to change in order to accept them.
"Our plan for 15.10 (which is still being finalised, and will be discussed in more depth at UOS in a couple of weeks) is to have a build based on Snappy Personal and so the current .deb based Desktop Next image will be going away and will be replaced with the new Snappy version. We'll preserve the most recent Desktop Next deb based ISO on cdimage.ubuntu.com. The future is Snappy, and you'll have an image to play with Real Soon Now," said Canonical's Will Cooke on Google+.
This is happening now for the Ubuntu Next images, but this will also extend to the regular desktop edition in the next year or so.
Update: More information has been published on this subject and Ubuntu developers have explained that they intend to support the DEB-based version of the OS for the foreseeable future.
Details about Unity 8 and Snappy-built Ubuntu will be made available during the upcoming UOS (Ubuntu Online Summit) in May.