VanillaOS: Immutable Ubuntu-Based Linux
I'm surprised immutable systems aren't more popular.<p>Back in the Knoppix days it was first a novelty, and then a blessing
that you had to boot from a CD-ROM, because it led to one amazing
outcome:<p>Less tinkering.<p>Or rather - it split <i>use</i> from tinkering.<p>Systems today are designed around the principles of deferral and
volatility. You can add or change anything at any time. The user has
absolute freedom to tinker, but also the vendor of always-connected
products has endless possibilities to update. The result is a mess of
dissatisfaction and half-bakery. Nothing is ever finished or fully
right. It also, maybe paradoxically, leads to systems that feel less
under your control.<p>Systems like TinyCore and Live CD distros take a different approach
that the OS is <i>finished</i>. You have two choices, take it or leave it.<p>Unless you are prepared to cross a non-trivial barrier to remix and
update the non-volatile image, you are forced to just use what you
have. That leads to more productivity because you adapt to the tool
rather than constantly adapting the tool to you.<p>I like TinyCore because it's looking to a middle ground of baking
immutable systems at key stage points and keeping changes separate
from the immutable core. I can change the core if I want to, but
rarely.<p>I see that as a separate prospect than "appliance platforms" like
Android and a PhoneOS onto which you can only load "apps".<p>What ideas and favourite solutions do other's have for using
immutability, or not liking it?