this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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What are the pros and cons for desktops ? EDIT : Thanks all. I'll try Silverblue, bazzite and more.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I have been trying to understand this for a minute and I can't seem to understand why you would use it on a personal workstation.

Like it makes sense for servers, and for deploying accross multiple systems in a corporate or public setting, but beyond that it seems like it is just adding unnecessary steps if you try to use it on your personal rig.

Maybe I'll need to just give in and try it for a week to a month to see the appeal

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It's much harder to break if you're prone to tinker. And there's no configuration drift that naturally accumulates over time as you tweak a system, so it always runs like a fresh new installation.

I have learned much more on immutable OS because I'm no longer afraid to tinker around and try new things. I play in distrobox and can completely nuke the container without affecting my whole system.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

honestly i feel exactly the opposite, I don’t think it’s really necessary for servers as tools like ansible are already well established in that space. Plus most servers are VMs these days which can be snapshotted easily. Also, lot of these “immutable distros” require a reboot to apply changes which is non ideal in a server, but a non issue for desktop as you can shut it down when you go to sleep.

I run fedora atomic on my desktop and laptop because i never have to worry about my system getting into a broken state, I can always roll back or even spot the problem and fix it before i reboot to apply the change. I know a lot of people say you can accomplish the same thing with btrfs snapshots, but that requires extra thought and effort on my part, where fedora atomic it happens automatically with every update.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Fascinating,

Again I haven't actually tried it. I went to install fedora kinoite(?) On an extra laptop I have to try it out but apparently the memory isn't seated correctly, so I will have to fix that real quick.

I also watched The Linux Experiment's video on it and cleared up some confusion

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

With immutable distros you can try a silverblue and switch to kinoite with a reboot on an already running system and it will just work and run your flatpaks. The base image it runs does not get corrupted. You cannot make changes (easily) to the base to corrupt it. Your apps and files are just an overlay or mounts on top of the system. Your machine lights on fire, if you have a network backup, it will fire up on any hardware and be the same. It’s much cleaner and allows for easy os switching.

You could theoretically make windows work and be switchable.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

Help me understand what I don't then. Why would anyone wise ever trust someone they don't know running closed source software of any kind on "their" computer?

I don't trust that asshole. I know him enough to not trust him let alone make my computer follow his directions. Why use anything but FOSS?

All down votes but no answer. Suckers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Whom you talking about in terms of "don't trust someone" ? Also where is the connection between closed source and immutable distros?!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

What's closed source about an immutable distro? And who are you referring to?

[–] Adanisi 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think you posted this in the wrong place

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I can't seem to understand why you would use it on a personal workstation.

Re that specifically.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Who is "he"? Who is "that asshole"?

Nobody is talking about non-FOSS software, so it's kinda weird you brought it up. In the "old man yells at clouds" way.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I think I just misunderstood your post.