this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Yes you can do all this with regular distros but not as conveniently. Especially cleanly switching from gnome to kde and vice versa is a nightmare. And by switching I mean removing one completely(including dependencies) and installing the other.
Why a nightmare? It should be very easy on any distro with well organized packages. Remove gnome meta-package, install kde meta-package.
its an easy: sudo apt install task-kde-desktop; sudo apt purge task-gnome-desktop; sudo apt autopurge
In testing or unstable this can be a problem though.
I feel like, many people just don't understand exactly how a distro and package managers work. immutable os feels like it allows priotizing only on on a small core part of the distribution which is immutable and slapping everything else on via flatpak or snap.
i don't like it and i sometimes wonder if we are not going backwards with that approach.
I'm not one hundred percent on the train of immutable, however, i have undertakes nixos and don't user flatpak/snap. The nix configuration file is where i install everything.
But while.i agree its not super hard to switch DEs on something like ubuntu etc. But one cool thing on nix (which i think you can do on any distro with nix package manager installed) is that you can test the package without installing it at all. The roll bavk id also nice cuz ive had situations where apt gets "broken" ive always been able to fix it with a little searching but its always frightening. Knowing that nix can go back to an old config at anytime makes me a little more comfortable
Funnily enough, I like nix. The concept is way ahead of silverblue and the likes. With nix nothing is hidden behind a compatibility layer. I feel like if we really need immutability, nix is the way to go.
I always depencies left around from the DE that was removed. Maybe it is because my commands are not the right one but I follow what is recommended by the distro wikis. Like if I am using gnome and then download kde just to try it out(without removing gnome), don't feel like using kde and remove it, I have packages and dependencies leftover from kde when I uninstall it. Neofetch too show an increase in packages even though the only action done was installing kde and uninstalling it