Hacker News Reader

Comment by Kwpolska | Hacker News Reader

Just like the recent Bazzite post, this page is full of buzzwords, but fails to explain what it actually is. It’s an image-based Linux distro. Which is nothing groundbreaking, and a solution looking for a problem, because classic Linux distros just work.

> Aurora is nothing more than a collection of bash scripts, containerfiles and custom programs stitched together.

That sentence appearing on the same page as "rock-solid" is not very convincing either and does not instil confidence.

View on HN

I don't know about that. I had plenty of stuff break randomly when updating Ubuntu so I can see the appeal.

Don’t worry. These immutable distros break in completely new and unexpected ways, especially since a lot of programs don’t quite gel with it or with the flatpak stuff (e.g. mdns still not really supported)

I ran Silverblue for a while, but you can still have your mutable distributions on top through toolbox or distrobox.

Which bring their own issues. The compromises may or may not be worth it.

I want to offer a counter perspective. While the idea is simple and technically not new, it is implemented in a way that allows a huge swath of people to migrate from windows relatively painlessly. It is something. Dismissing it as 'not groundbreaking' is missing the forest for the trees.

What is the magic solution that will make people migrate? Non-image-based mainstream Linux distros, like Ubuntu, tend to be stable and don’t randomly break. Random breakage happens in Ubuntu, but it also happens in Windows, and probably in those image-based distros as well.

Ubuntu is basically windows. I can give you that it is stable, but if you are actually arguing that there is not difference between those ( no 'magic solution' ) edit: , then I don't buy the argument. I think you may be missing the point I was making.

edit: I re-read my previous post. It is possible it is not clear, there is a level of ease and stability that comes 'image based' distros. I am putting quotation marks, because I am almost wondering if this is the equivalent of leather warm seats in the car. You don't think you need it or want it, because car warms up just fine so its not needed. And yet.. when you try use it once, you are hooked.

Do you have any solid sources for the "huge swath" of people being enabled by this to migrate from Windows to Linux?

The only thing that will enable people to migrate is third-party app support; no matter how good Linux distros get it's all moot if the software users use every day doesn't support it.

No. Source is me. I am the anecdata. shrug It absolutely can be wrong, but to me the pattern is relatively clean. Most of the converts I have seen thus far were Windows holdouts.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com