The Linux Thread - The Autist's OS of Choice

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The whole point(theory) is that a container contains every dependency it needs to run. And really it seems to work most of the time.
could you run the OS itself inside Docker? like have a very bare minimum hypervisor OS and run KDE plasma and apps on top of the container?
 
could you run the OS itself inside Docker? like have a very bare minimum hypervisor OS and run KDE plasma and apps on top of the container?
Yes. That way probably lies madness but it's technically possible.

Running the X11 server inside the container would be a challenge but since X11 is designed for this using remote apps it works mostly fine for GUI apps in containers.

Don't ask me about Wayland, I have no idea.

For server OS there are a few doing this like RancherOS.
 
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Yes. That way probably lies madness but it's technically possible.

Running the X11 server inside the container would be a challenge but since X11 is designed for this using remote apps it works mostly fine for GUI apps in containers.

Don't ask me about Wayland, I have no idea.

For server OS there are a few doing this like RancherOS.
It sounds like Google's Sommelier can do it for Wayland.

It would be madness, but it could be feasible if you do your best to reduce the undockered OS as much as possible. maybe if you can run drivers in a container, but a container for video graphics seems unlikely
 
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How much of a linux OS could you restructure around Flatpack or something similar? Just try to get it to the point that as much of the OS and it's applications and services are containerized as possible?
if it works it would likely be the fourth leg that competes with Debian, Fedora, and Archlinux and their derivatives.
 
It sounds like Google's Sommelier can do it for Wayland.

It would be madness, but it could be feasible if you do your best to reduce the undockered OS as much as possible. maybe if you can run drivers in a container, but a container for video graphics seems unlikely
So you’re trying to reinvent microkernels but even less efficiently?
 
could you run the OS itself inside Docker? like have a very bare minimum hypervisor OS and run KDE plasma and apps on top of the container?
No, you can't run an "OS" as a container. A container is not a VM. A container must run the same kernel as the host. It can run a different user land, but shares the kernel. A VM runs a separate kernel in the host and the guest.

You should be able to run any user land crap (such as wayland) in a container.
 
So you’re trying to reinvent microkernels but even less efficiently?
No, I was trying to figure out if there is a way to rework Linux to have the security and stability benefits that Windows and MacOS enjoy without a 100% rewrite of the OS and all apps.
 
If any of you autists are building a new computer/buying a laptop and are considering switching over to Linux, go with AMD.
Nvidia will cause you so much fucking pain and the open source drivers developed by the community are not suitable for doing anything.
Disagreeing, but only because Nvidia is no trouble at all provided you a) steer clear of Wayland, and b) use nvidia-drivers rather than nouveau.

Just FYI, you wouldn't be giving any of that up with a passthrough setup on your glorious i9 13900 / RTX 4090 setup. Only reason I don't do it is because macOS provides better desktop security than Linux distros likely ever will at this point.

(That and I don't pirate anything, which is the main benefit)
Why do you care so much about muh security? Just make sure you take regular backups, and don't run any dodgy shit.

Thank you for all your suggestions so far, frens. Linux Mint looks like the best option so I'll go with that. It could be seen as paranoia, but knowing Bongistan and the spineless cucks who run our government if the new internet legislations go unchallenged I know what the ultimate goal is going to be - and that is keeping tabs on citizens via their OS. I can go into depths on just how difficult it is to keep privacy in the UK for anybody interested, but making it so Big Brother can see what naughty files you're keeping on your computer is probably the endgame. Knowing big tech, I'm adamant Microsoft and Apple would agree to letting them because Microsoft in particular puts strong emphasis on making "backups" of your files on their cloud system which is a big red flag.
There's no grand plan, the Online Safety Bill is just knee-jerk legislation in response to the newspapers. These people are idiots rather than malicious. Don't forget they wanted to make it so that encrypted messages were scanned, not realizing how contradictory this was.
 
It sounds like Google's Sommelier can do it for Wayland.

It would be madness, but it could be feasible if you do your best to reduce the undockered OS as much as possible. maybe if you can run drivers in a container, but a container for video graphics seems unlikely
The display driver/server can run in a container, but by the time you're done you've given it enough permissions that it's barely constrained at all due to all the things it touches.

How much of a linux OS could you restructure around Flatpack or something similar? Just try to get it to the point that as much of the OS and it's applications and services are containerized as possible?
if it works it would likely be the fourth leg that competes with Debian, Fedora, and Archlinux and their derivatives.
Ubuntu is already trying to do this with Snaps. Maybe something like Ubuntu Core for you: https://ubuntu.com/blog/ubuntu-core-an-immutable-linux-desktop

People have grown to like the idea that when I take a screenshot in App A and it's in $HOME I can open it and post it on an on-line gossip site with App B and often containers break that, until you give them a shared volume, then you've lost the isolation.

Anyway, the real question is, what is the threat model. Trusted apps, Linux is fine. Semi-untrusted apps, run in a container. Really untrusted apps, run in a VM. Really really untrusted apps run on an air-gapped machine and smash it when done as you have no idea if the firmware was compromised.
 
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I am certainly curious about Ubuntu Core Desktop, and how it will perform on its first production-ready release. I've tried a demo in a VM and it will come with a cloud and host manager for containers and virtual machines, so you can run non-snap'd software on a local container and machine instance, similar to ChromeOS's "developer tools" to get around the gimped software options on that OS.

I might have to set my apprehensions aside to see if an actually consistent way of doing things on a Ubuntu system improves the experience. I will not, however, use Snaps on anything outside of that...
 
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I am certainly curious about Ubuntu Core Desktop, and how it will perform on its first production-ready release. I've tried a demo in a VM and it will come with a cloud and host manager for containers and virtual machines, so you can run non-snap'd software on a local container and machine instance, similar to ChromeOS's "developer tools" to get around the gimped software options on that OS.

I might have to set my apprehensions aside to see if an actually consistent way of doing things on a Ubuntu system improves the experience. I will not, however, use Snaps on anything outside of that...
Is it still by default GNOME? that DE is so horrible tho...
 
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Is it still by default GNOME? that DE is so horrible tho...

Yeah, that goes without saying. Gnome sucks, but I have curiosities that run deeper than the surface level stuff. I will always keep separate drive with my default distro (Debian) so I can duck out at any time.

I have a suspicion that most Ubuntu desktop users aren't even memorizing the name of the desktop environment and tune out the rest.
 
System76's Cosmic DE is looking to be quite interesting. They skipped updating a version to work on the DE this year.
yet another GNOME fork because gnome is shit. Although sounds like this one is becoming a rewrite.

Between Linux Mint, Ubuntu Unity, Zorin OS, and Pop!_OS they could've banded together to make one well supported replacement to GNOME.
 
yet another GNOME fork because gnome is shit. Although sounds like this one is becoming a rewrite.

Between Linux Mint, Ubuntu Unity, Zorin OS, and Pop!_OS they could've banded together to make one well supported replacement to GNOME.
It's not really a fork. They're writing it from the ground up in Rust so it's a bespoke DE. I'm looking forward to it. It's something new that can change up the rather stagnant DE space.
 
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It's not really a fork. They're writing it from the ground up in Rust so it's a bespoke DE. I'm looking forward to it. It's something new that can change up the rather stagnant DE space.

It sounds like they are very focused on trying to make Wayland as livable as possible on Cosmic. Really, both KDE and System76 seem more focused to get Wayland right compared to others, as far as hands-off options are concerned.
 
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