I love immutable Linux distros. I switched from Windows to Linux about a year ago, and since then I’ve settled into Kinoite and made a new home on Fedora Atomic’s KDE spin. Immutable design is something you just can’t get with Windows, and Kinoite made it really easy for my then-newbie self (well, I’m still a beginner, but more then) to start the technology.
The thing is, I have a bit of a problem with my immutable distribution too perfect. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve been itching to launch something that isn’t an atomic distro, simply because I miss the days when I could screw things up.
Immutable distros are the perfect choice for a daily driver…
It will be difficult to get away from them
So what makes immutable distros perfect? Well, it’s not that much does but what doesn’t. Or rather, what does not allow you do. Immutable distros, by default, disallow everything from editing system files, and that includes the user. On paper, this sounds like a weird and annoying design decision, but once you start using one, it all makes sense.
Yes, you can’t log in and edit system files, but you can’t do anything else. This means your files are not tampered with by software, Linux commands or even malware. And since the distro’s system files don’t ‘drift’ over time, there’s no need to reinstall the OS because it slows down browsing.
Immutable distros are often atomic. It’s not a hard guarantee, but the two often go hand in hand. The atomic system is also fantastic; instead of updating the operating system by overwriting the files, it downloads the snapshots to a separate location and then replaces it when you reboot. No installation errors, no need to wait for the “Please wait, installing update” panel to populate when you turn off your computer. And if something does if you make a mistake, you can always go back to the previous snapshot location and use that instead.
…but I’m starting to feel like they’re a little too perfect
My biggest complaint is its biggest strength
Basically, the main attraction of immutable distros is that they are hard to crack. You cannot accidentally delete a file, disable a command that corrupts your system files, or download a program that harms your computer. Everything is safe, tidy and protected in its small container. And I’m starting to hate it.
See, Fedora Kinoite has been a very reliable daily driver for me. It’s reliable, sturdy, and I’ve never had to reinstall it. But at the same time, since using Linux, I’ve learned next to nothing about using it. I think the biggest thing I learned was using Gear Lever to make building AppImage files a lot easier. It was a huge help, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t a huge breakthrough in helping me understand Linux.
Now compare that to before my Fedora Kinoite days. Linux Mint taught me what I do and don’t want from an OS. Arch Linux forced me to learn about disk partitions, home partition and file editing with nano, because if I didn’t learn them, I wouldn’t have an OS to use. I always accidentally broke the OS because I tried something stupid, I felt bad at the time, but they gave me a real understanding of it. why they are stupid and more importantly how to avoid it in the future.
It’s like the Terry Pratchett quote: “Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often the result of a lack of wisdom.” I don’t realize the “lack of wisdom” because an immutable distro just flat-out doesn’t let you.
Sometimes breaking things is half the fun
The other half is understanding how you handle it
So are immutable systems flawed? No, not at all. They have a goal, they set out to achieve it and they succeeded. And for a year I thought they were the pinnacle of OS design.
No, changing systems are not to blame here. Just like how someone who wants the latest updates will be stuck with an LTS distro, or someone who wants everything built for them will find Arch frustrating, I get a lot more out of hacking things than I first thought. Immutable distros have given me a smooth ride, but it’s the friction of mixing things that has pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me learn about the Linux kernel and the distros I’ve used.
I have to start making mistakes again
Immutable distros give me a ton of security, but it’s also caused my learning to stagnate. Why should I learn that everything is fine the way it is? While immutable distros will always have a place in my heart, I may go exploring again soon if I ever get to know what it feels like to hit kernel panic again.
