Universal Blue is a new paradigm for the Linux desktop and it’s brilliant

I have been utilizing Linux since 1997. Years in the past, I reached the purpose the place I used to be sure there was nothing that would shock me anymore. Quick ahead to this previous weekend when Jorge Castro reached out to me and proved me incorrect.

Jorge used to work with Ubuntu however is now engaged on a brand new venture, referred to as Universal Blue. With out going into the technical particulars of what this distribution does (as a result of most common customers do not actually care what occurs “underneath the hood,” they solely care that issues work), let’s have a look at if I can describe what Common Blue is. Perceive, that is actually new stuff we’re speaking about… and it is cool.

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Think about you have put in an working system and also you poke round and determine it is not the correct desktop for you. Perhaps you put in a model which ships with the GNOME desktop. With Common Blue, what you are able to do is “rebase” the working system such that it now’s primarily based on KDE Plasma. 

Or MATE. 
Or LXQt.

I am positive that listing will proceed to develop.

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In keeping with the Git documentation: “With the rebase command, you’ll be able to take all of the modifications that have been dedicated on one department and replay them on a unique department. For this instance, you’d take a look at the experiment department, after which rebase it onto the grasp department…”

Technically talking, a Linux distribution is not really “primarily based” on a desktop surroundings but it surely’s a straightforward solution to clarify it.

Over the weekend, I did some fundamental testing with this. I began out utilizing the default Universal Blue release. After putting in that, I used the rpm-ostree rebase command and rebased the OS with the Bluefin model. 

In keeping with Jorge, Bluefin “is me and a few pals taking uBlue after which making it our personal — that is the place I strengthen opinionated selections, the Ubuntu-style dock and app indicators, and a ChromeOS-like upkeep cycle. For devs, it features a bunch of cloud instruments like Kubernetes’ variety. The overuse of cloud terminology is on function, I am attempting to make use of known-proven tech from cloud on the desktop for reliability and options, so you may see all the standard cloud-native phrases in there, good for search engine optimisation.” 

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Once I went to do the rebasing, the command was:

sudo rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-registry:ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin:38

After the method was accomplished, I rebooted, logged in, and noticed a very completely different desktop surroundings.

I already know what you are pondering: Why not simply set up a unique desktop over the prevailing OS? That is a sound query and I will clarify by the use of an instance. Not too long ago, I discovered Pop!_OS turning into somewhat unstable. I attempted to trace down the difficulty however was unsuccessful. In the long run, I made a decision to put in a unique desktop surroundings. 

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First, I attempted KDE Plasma however was shortly reminded why I did not a lot take care of that desktop surroundings (it is an excessive amount of like Home windows). Then I attempted Enlightenment, however that surroundings did not a lot take care of Wayland, so it was a no-go. I used to be going to put in normal GNOME, however that will break Pop!_OS. Pantheon? Nope. I quickly realized it was most likely time to modify to a unique distribution, however I do not actually have the time to take action in the mean time. Now, if I have been utilizing Common Blue, I may merely run the rebase command and make the change. There can be no breakage, no difficult dependencies to take care of, and no mess. It is clear, quick, and easy.

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Once I experimented with Common Blue over the weekend, I used to be reminded of simply how cool the Linux working system is. Abruptly, I felt like I used to be again within the late 90s or early 2000s and was seeing the way forward for working programs earlier than my eyes. That is how spectacular Jorge’s work is. 

I have been contemplating making the leap to Fedora OS. In any case, one of many first variations of Linux I ever used was Pink Hat 5.2 (after a failed Caldera Open Linux 1 experiment). With Common Blue (which relies on Fedora), I might by no means have to fret about such a difficulty once more. It will additionally curb that feeling of “distro hopping” that so many Linux customers succumb to.

In the meanwhile, Common Blue continues to be in alpha, so I would not precisely suggest it for set up on machines you employ each day. However set up it as a digital machine and see how superb the rebasing characteristic is. Additionally, in the mean time, the rebasing have to be achieved with the command line. Hopefully, in some unspecified time in the future, a GUI instrument will likely be created to take away the necessity to do the rebasing from the command line. The easier all the pieces in Linux will get, the extra individuals will use it.

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I stand in awe of what Jorge has achieved with this venture and hope it prospers as I imagine it will possibly and may. When you’re interested by this, make sure that to obtain Common Blue and check the rebasing characteristic. I think, as soon as this comes out of alpha, it’d very properly wind up being my each day working system. I am additionally assured, when you attempt Common Blue (and its rebasing characteristic), you would possibly come away with the identical opinion.

You’ll be able to learn extra about what Jorge Castro is doing with Common Blue on his official blog.