Currently there are already several projects that offer at least one immutable option. Perhaps the one that is taking the lead or the one that is most advanced in this is Fedora, which has had immutable systems in its catalog for a long time and, in addition, now there are Fedora Atomic Desktops, a family with immutability as its flag. Canonical seems to be lagging a little behind, but it is on the right track as demonstrated by the current state of its Ubuntu Core Desktop.
We have already explained before that Mark Shuttleworth's company refers to it as just "Ubuntu Core", or that is what we see in the logos, but we, to avoid confusion with the version for the Internet of Things, added behind the "Desktop". We tried it a while ago and it tasted like nothing, more like nothing. Its nature is that of a system based on Ubuntu, but immutable and based on snap packages. Initially you cannot install programs like Kodi, but we knew that they had an ace up their sleeve.
Workshops, the Ubuntu Core Desktop Distrobox
In our test we noticed that there was a terminal icon with the name "Workshops". We opened it and nothing could be done with it. Since these days we have been talking about Distrobox, and it is known that SteamOS has it installed by default since v3.5, I decided to try Ubuntu Core Desktop again in a more updated image. And what a great surprise I got: Workshops now work...
… or so I think
When we open it we see something like the header screenshot. The Ubuntu logo is big, and it seems clear what message it is sending us: "If you want to use Linux in a container, here are the options, but we recommend Ubuntu." Or that's what I understand.
When we choose a system, in my example I have chosen Ubuntu, we go to this other window. In it we can choose system version, type and variant.
By clicking continue, we will go to a window in which we will choose the integration with the operating system. It is worth leaving it as default. As you can see in the text, in the previous point I chose the virtual machine, but because it left me no other option.
Finally, you launch the image, wait, instantiate it, and it should work.
And why do I say it should and I don't guarantee it? Because everything is in a very early phase and I have not been able to test it natively, only in a virtual machine, and the process has not finished.
Workshops are used to manage LXD containers, actually
The truth is that not many of us knew about Workshops, but it has been a while since is available as a snap package. Works different from Distrobox. It has similarities, but also important differences. What Canonical offers is more similar to Microsoft's WSL than Distrobox, since it virtualizes the operating system. Virtualizing in virtual is not the easiest, which is why my test in GNOME Boxes did not go entirely well.
But it's good to see how Ubuntu Core Desktop is taking shape. It is easy to imagine what it will be like in the future and after installing from scratch:
- By default we will have a system with just enough to function with very little software.
- To install some packages, we can do it from the Application Center, the official Snap Store.
- It will not be possible to install anything from APT.
- We will have an application installed by default with which we can install other distros as a subsystem.
- TBC: curl is available as snap packages, so it may be possible to use it to install Distrobox in the future. Today it does not finish installing it.
Canonical is doing the homework of the subject of the immutability. You will not pass the subject this April, but it is likely that we will have an immutable version of Ubuntu in October, coinciding with the release of Ubuntu 24.10 OAdjective OAnimal.