this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
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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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[–] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

After reading this I’m confused about what immutable means

[–] j0rge@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Bazzite contributor here, there's no reason to care about this. This term just confuses people you can safely ignore it.

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 0 points 1 week ago

Pretend your running a live OS off a read-only USB, yet any changes (app installs, config changes, etc) you make are saved to the HD. A new version of the OS comes out, so you write a new ISO to your USB, and upon booting it, all you changes are applied on top.

This is a simplistic view of immutable distros, but thwy wrk more like snapshots. It allows for rollback. So you install v1, then v2 is a newer snapshot of the base OS, v3 is another, always building.

The catch is they often require apps to run under things like flatpak so you don't have to alter the OS packages. Personally, I'm not a fan for a daily driver, but it's great for distros like Bazzite.