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Immutable distro on a PC. Thoughts and experience? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm about to go ahead and go 100% Linux on my PC and completely get rid of Windows. The latest advancements in Windows application compatibility for Linux has taken strides and it's now easier than ever to run Windows apps thanks to Wine and Bottles and Steam's Proton. There's literally nothing I can't do in Linux that I could do in Windows.

The distro of choice I will probably go for is going to be Kubuntu. But I've been looking at immutable distros as a more stable alternative. But, it sounds to me like it's more adapted for smaller devices and IoT, like the Steam Deck or similar handheld devices.

Have you installed an immutable distro on your PC? What distro did you use? What was your experience like? What were the pros and cons according to you?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Definitely not just for handhelds. Check out Universal Blue images which are built ontop of Fedora Atomic (the immutable variant). Bazzite is an awesome gaming distro that's rock solid. Bluefin is awesome for Devs and more technical people. But even for non-devs it's awesome since the images are purpose build with and without all the devs tools. You pick your preferred DE (KDE or GNOME), and your graphics drivers.

Almost everything is setup for you that you would have to do mannually compared to Fedora Atomic, and additional quality of life tweaks are included as well.

Been running, Bazzite on my gaming rig for months now and it's been great. Running the Cosmic/Gnome UBlue image on my framework laptop for months and its also been amazing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'll add that Bazzite, while it works for Steam Deck, is and always has been built for desktops first. Steam Deck just works out well as a target, because SteamOS is already immutable-ish and is also a Linux distro.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

The very first release was actually a steam deck release, the desktop release came later.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

No, the device size doesnt matter at all.

Sounds you only saw Bazzite, which would be my recommendation if you want good Windows app compatibility.

I personally use the official Fedora Kinoite but it is a lot more barebones, and I change quite a bit.

I recommend to try Bazzite or Aurora, it just works. Poorly, because Fedora people make strange decisions, and also leave out too much, I cant recommend vanilla Kinoite for beginners.

I just made a post on how I setup Silverblue and I will do one on how I actually setup my main Kinoite.

That will be bigger, as I have a ton there.

I have my dotfiles, which contain configs, here on Github.

Also have a look at these posts

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

But, it sounds to me like it's more adapted for smaller devices and IoT, like the Steam Deck or similar handheld devices.

There are plenty of desktop focused immutable Linux distros. With Fedora Sikverblue/Kinoite probably being the most prominent one, but there are also Vanilla OS, the ublue distros and the one I'm personally using, (openSUSE) Aeon. NixOS technically counts too I think, but that one has it's whole own philosophy/structure that extends way beyond just being immutable

What were the pros and cons according to you?

Pros: increased stability/less risk of breakage, sepaeation of base system/apps that will be more intuitive to many non-Linux users, (Flatpak) apps tend to always be the newest version
Cons: still some smaller pain points around app integration, some flatpaks might have some features that don't fully work or you might need to change a permission (this has gotten a lot better already though), less suited for tinkerers

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I know I'm late to the party, but ~~don't~~ do you think Aeon is ready to be a daily driver?

I currently run Debian stable, but I'm interested in Aeon as an alternative.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Many people (including me) have run Aeon for years. It's definitely usable as daily driver. It's also in RC3 stage right now and should switch to it's first "proper" release any day/week now.