There's a new Ubuntu Linux desktop on its way | Hacker News Reader

There's a new Ubuntu Linux desktop on its way

zdnet.com

13 pointsCrankyBear7 comments

I think the concept of Immutable Operating Systems is quite nice, and it's nice to see Ubuntu exploring it. It seems like, in principal, a rather nice way to provide a stable system that is set apart from the needs of individual applications. More distros taking a stab at this is a great way to shake out what does and doesn't work well in practice.

However I, like many other folks, have not had the greatest experience with Snap as distribution method, and from a user experience perspective, feel that Flatpak is a better choice in this case, so I won't be entertaining this particular distro's attempts.

I don't really like the idea of immutable OSes. I'd rather have good IDP but still retain full control rather than leaving everything to the OS developer. Immutable is getting too close to the mobile model where the user having root access is considered a bad thing.

Apple has gone this way too and also didn't provide a way for the user to manage things without having to turn every security protection off altogether and also giving up some OS features in the process.

Windows has had similar functionality for ages in the form of System File Protection.

OpenBSD has probably the most cumbersome approach of using multiple partitions and mounting those with system files as read-only. As inflexible as that is (sizing many partitions correctly is an unnecessary nightmare) it's better than Snap which is bloated from the get go.

It doesn't have to be a problem with those partitions. You could use zpools with different zfses inside. They can all use the same space yet are still different filesystems.

But if FreeBSD or OpenBSD do something like this, they will make sure it can be managed by the user too, not like Apple.

> [...] this new Snap-based Ubuntu should [...]

Not interested.

This is essentially the same as what Valve did with SteamOS on the Steam Deck right?

I've heard SteamOS is a/b updates of an entire filesystem, similar to Android phone OTA updates.

It's discussed in one of the first two episodes of the Linux Matters podcast talking about the Steam Deck and ChimeraOS.

https://linuxmatters.sh/

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