Are Immutable Linux Distros Worth It?

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► Chapters:

00:00 - Immutable Linux Distributions
00:51 - How an immutable Distro works
01:51 - System apps and dependencies
02:41 - From a beginners perspective ...
03:20 - Immutable Distros vs difficult programs
04:53 - That being said ...
05:39 - My personal thoughts
06:46 - Conclusion

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► Description Tags:

linux immutable distro, best immutable linux distro, immutable linux, fedora atomic, fedora atomic desktop, fedora atomic desktops, fedora kinoite, chimeraos, vanilla os, steam os, steam deck, best linux distro, linux for beginners, michael horn

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#linux #opensource #beginners

[haydn-dbz]

As an IT admin and a primarily Windows user, I installed Bazzite because it was advertised as working seamlessly with my Steam games. It did just that, and I rarely boot back into Windows on my home theater/gaming PC.

[DavoReds]

I think these are most useful for computers that are not really personal computers, like handhelds or PCs for universities. Systems that you don't want to mess with and that should just work. But I would never use it for my workstations, because I prefer the freedom to do whatever I want and fix it afterwards

Or you could just use Nix and solve both problems

[rapacious_rapscallion]

Fedora Silverblue is fantastic. Immutable distros are the future. By the way, technically macOS has an immutable base.

[zakt]

Really sad project u-blue was not mentioned. I think the nit pick of "Distrobox is not included in all immutable distros" is the biggest problem. As a bluefin user distrobox is my absolute primary way of running applications that are not flatpaks. While it may not work for every single application, it works a lot better then not. The enterprise also missed a point that (at least fedora atomic) is based on OCI containers. Bluefin is built on existing cloud models and making derivatives for all your workstations to run the exact same image is very powerful. Immutable people will say "we didnt remove the ability to tinker with the host system, we just moved it to CI/git."

[DaftBlazer]

I've used linux for a very long time and I actually use Bazzite on every device I have now (except my server). I don't have to worry about package conflicts during an update, codecs are installed out of the box, and actually I think distrobox is better than a regular distro. I can install some random software and dependencies inside of a new distrobox container and if I break stuff or decide I don't want it anymore, I can just delete the container and my system isn't cluttered with random packages.

Also, with Davinci Resolve its actually easier in Bazzite than any other distro I've tried. You just run "ujust install-resolve" and it automatically installs a davinci resolve distrobox container with support for AMD GPUs

[laycookie-fi]

Hello, I have actually used an immutable distribution as my first Linux distro. From experience I can say that it is in fact true that documentation is lacking, however the community is actually unbelievably active and there wasn’t really many problems that I wasn’t able to solve in less then 30 minutes.
Most of the problems that I had challenges with, were not related to the immutability of the distro, but instead they were about how Linux fundamentally works. So even tho arch isn’t immutable I usually was able to understand how to fix my issue by referencing there form.

[robonator]

Might be a bit of another beast but I'd be interested in seeing a video (or maybe even series?) looking-into / dedicated-to NixOS. It's been making rounds for a while but most things I've seen tend to suffer from the issue of either dump-trucking tons of information that make no sense unless you already know it, or giving information in such small snippets that they're impossible to understand. (the former being "I can't learn from you, you're too good at the thing to understand what needs to be taught" the latter being "okay, I understand these 5000 micro-examples, but you haven't explained how any of it fits together")

It'd be really interesting to see an attempt at a user-first dive into Nix from an outside perspective since a lot of people swear by it but it's not really very noob-friendly.

Also, Nix isn't quite "immutable". It is in a way, but it just takes a wildly different approach that makes it pretty apples to oranges. So posts like 4:13 are actually kinda talking about a different thing just using the same terminology. I'd definitely agree with your conclusion that immutable distros for real desktop "computer" use (i.e. : not something like the Steam Deck which is a console-like first and foremost) but Nix is taking a very different angle that seems to make it both much more viable for normal use and, unfortunately, much harder to actually learn. This is admitedly bordering on "LINUX IS THE KERNEL" levels of pedantry, but in this case it seems like a meaningful thing to point out since while you can certainly make the argument that it is immutable, from what I can tell it goes about that task so wildly uniquely it's basically it's own thing entirely. (which, again, is why it's such a pain to learn)

[UsernsSurns]

immutable distros make more sense for devices directly supported by the hardware vendor as opposed to generic hardware where you have to mutate the file system at one point or other to solve issues that crop up. I guess nixos might be the exception.

[kvndodson]

Im using Aeon. It's the best experience I've had with Linux. It updates itself automatically. I literally never think about the OS and just do work and play games. 10/10

[F_Around_and_find_out]

It’s worth it, because without being able to install directly into the main system, you are forced to make changes elsewhere, that can help with organizing things, you can just shed the excess away because the main system is immutable, intact.
Normal distro is like one big bubble. Immutable is one main bubble that anchor other bubbles. The main bubble maintains other bubbles but itself is unchanged, while the other bubbles can be made or popped at will: Docker images and containers, or virtual machines.

[fotnite_]

I'd like to note that immutability doesn't work the same for many of these distros. On Silverblue and related distros, everything outside of /usr is mutable, so you can make config changes in /etc and they will survive updates and reboots. For NixOS, everything is mutable outside of the Nix store in /nix, and anything that isn't symlinked to the nix store by the nix package manager will survive reboots and updates as well. Additionally, package managers like brew and nix generally work on any immutable system, since they only need access to the home directory, so they are useful for CLI utilities. SteamOS follows the style of immutability that is common on Android devices and on game consoles, where everything outside the home folder is immutable, but the other distros that are targeted at desktop users and enthusiasts do it in a much more customization-friendly way (in fact, I would consider NixOS to be the ultimate tinkerer's distro, and the level of control it gives you is even higher than something like Gentoo in many cases).

[AleksiJoensuu]

Good breakdown! "Regular" Linux distros also 'lock things away' from users - that's why you have to use `sudo` for anything that affects the system. It's just really tempting and easy to type in that password even if you're not exactly sure what you're doing 😄

[sahilgoel]

Using uBlue bluefin and it solves a lot a good fit

[isaboll]

Distrobox has a guide to install in the home directory for the Steam Deck. The same instructions can be used for any other distro, and won't be overwritten on updates.

[vitelomiki]

A lot of problems with these desktops are fixed with distrobox

[xard]

Immutable distribution works really well for "immutable" hardware like the Steam Deck and laptops (if you get vendor support that is).

However as I just updated my NVidia graphics card on my Desktop machine and noticed that the card was too new for the current stock drivers to be recognized an immutable distribution would have been a nightmare to work around to fix the issue.

[JosephBurt-Main]

This was summed up so well. I have been asked questions about Immutable Linux Distros and to "explain it" to them. Having to do this with IT Support staff that is "windows centric" this video is a great explination.

[specialk]

Vanilla OS is actually kinda cool. It would be perfect for new Linux users.

[Otuhh]

i feel like people trying to leave windows will enjoy immutable distros. Im trying base fedora for the first time on my laptop and its been fun. As more "issues" with immutable distros get fixed and more app support things will be great by the time we get to that October 2025 deadline. The "similar experience everyone gets" i feel will help move development alot quicker too.

[wargamingrefugee]

Think I'll just stick with the ease of upgrading whenever Kubuntu launches a new LTS version. Having root on on drive and home on another makes things pretty easy. "Easy" is also why I prefer Kdenlive over DaVinci Resolve. To me, using DaVinci Resolve is like trying to fly an F-35 when all that's really needed is a a Cessna prop plane. Thanks for the video.