I recently took up Bazzite from mint and I love it! After using it for a few days I found out it was an immutable distro, after looking into what that is I thought it was a great idea. I love the idea of getting a fresh image for every update, I think for businesses/ less tech savvy people it adds another layer of protection from self harm because you can’t mess with the root without extra steps.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with immutable distros I attached a picture of mutable vs immutable, I don’t want to describe it because I am still learning.
My question is: what does the community think of it?
Do the downsides outweigh the benefits or vice versa?
Could this help Linux reach more mainstream audiences?
Any other input would be appreciated!
I see. I think the term “sandboxed” would be more appropriate than “immutable” in this context. Similar to Flatpak, where multiple versions per package can be installed at the same time.
That’s not what sandboxed means and Nix isn’t sandboxed.
Sandboxed means it runs in a separate container, often with limited permissions; raising security at the cost of performance.
They are “sandboxed” by separate namespace. It functions conceptionallyas a container that does not interfere with the other packages. The limited permission system is not a must part of any sandboxing, its just common in popular packaging systems. The term doesn’t only have a singular meaning. It certainly is a better term than “immutable” to describe the concept of Nix packaging.