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this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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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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I'm not super clear on what being declarative and atomic means in an OS context. Does it mean there's a file describing what packages are installed, kind of like nix?
I am no expert, please correct me if I’m wrong
From what I understand, it’s like Nix but Arch based. The
/system.yamlfile contains all of the packages installed on the system.Also it’s the worst when you download an operating system and you realize that it’s mutable
You’re like “oh no I did not want the mutable one I wanted the immutable one”
I know what all words mean
It's new to me, I think it's saying that your system is built up by you declaring what you want in a file, a single source that everything comes from.
It's atomic because each action the system takes is carefully completed rather than bailing out and requiring you to fix something.
It's immutable meaning you declare how you want things to be set up and then critical changes stem from those declarations and nothing else. You would obviously generate preferences, save data, etc. but the files that make the system / packages work are carefully locked.
It's like the concept of flatpaks + structured system defining + modern common sense OS operations?