Comparing Four Leading Immutable Distros
Hard Core
© Lead Image © tiyanmcd7, 123RF.com
Immutable Linux distributions protect your system files in ways that an ordinary distro can't. We take a look at four promising alternatives: Aurora, blendOS, NixOS, and Vanilla OS.
Linux is known for its impressive security. Thanks to granular user rights, malware has a far harder time gatecrashing a Linux system than it does infiltrating the market-leading desktop operating systems. Linux also benefits from the watchful eyes and enhanced oversight associated with the open source development philosophy.
At the same time, developers are constantly looking for new strategies to make Linux even more secure. A recent focus has been on write-protected filesystems that prevent manipulation of important system files. Linux derivatives based on this concept are called immutable distributions.
An immutable distribution provides an immutable core area for system files, plus containers on an overlay filesystem. The read-only core prevents changes from being directly integrated into the operating system instance, meaning that buggy updates or malware will not directly compromise the system's integrity.
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