It's been quite some time since Canonical began to flirt with the idea of immutabilityUbuntu Core Desktop was expected to release its first stable version in April of this year 2024, but they encountered some problems that had to be fixed. The next stop is October, which we are about to enter, and it is possible that a new flavor will be added to the Ubuntu family, if this variant can be considered that. The concept is taking shape, and the latest news is that it would also arrive KDE Neon Core.
The idea was announced at Akademy 2024, and information is available at this link from Community KDE. Basically, they are thinking of releasing a version with Ubuntu Core Desktop base and KDE softwareIt would also be limited to snap packages, and immutability would make it a robust system that is very difficult, if not impossible, to break.
KDE Neon Core would only use snaps
Como It's all snaps, even the Plasma session is. To make all this possible, the system will use plasma-core22-desktop. It's just one of the many challenges KDE has. Considering that there are no images yet and it can't be tested, it seems clear that it won't be joining the Oracular Oriole family that will be available starting October 10th.
Will just snaps be enough?
Many Linux users We prefer a traditional distribution which allows us to make all kinds of changes, even those that can destroy the operating system. These distributions also give us access to software that we have to compile, use of scripts and everything we can imagine. Although certain areas are protected by default, if we identify ourselves as a super user we have no limits.
The Immutable distributions are read-only, and it is a limitation to take into account. There are distributions like Vanilla OS that allow us to use Distrobox, a software with which we can bypass certain restrictions. But what is more important to me is that they allow us to install software from as many sources as possible.
Canonical's philosophy is do not support flatpak packages by default in any of their distributions. This is not a problem in Ubuntu, since we can install GNOME Software and add support for flatpak packages in the store. It is not difficult either Enable AppImages support. It will be very different in KDE Neon Core, as in Ubuntu Core Desktop, since we do not have access to official repositories. Therefore, if they do not include libfuse2 By default, we will not be able to leave the snap ecosystem.
Option for basic users
Is this a problem? I think so, it's the weak point of KDE Neon Desktop and Core Desktop. There is much more software on Flathub than on Snapcraft, to give some examples FileZilla, Kodi, ProtonVPN or Chrome, which although not verified, is the most used web browser.
Now, KDE is not Canonical. It is just a partner, and it can include some changes that the company run by Mark Shuttleworth would not even think of for its proposals. To name a few, Kubuntu does make things easier to access Flathub. Also, since 24.04 it has started using Calamares as an installer.
We'll have to wait and see how this all turns out. Coming soon to your PC… or virtual machine.