I found an immutable Linux distro that never breaks and is effortless to use

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• ShaniOS is an immutable Linux distribution.
• With a blue/green deployment, the OS will never break.
• You can download and use ShaniOS for free.

Operating system security has always been a hallmark of Linux. With the introduction of immutable distributions — CoreOS, launched in 2013, was among the first — no other operating system could come close to the level of security Linux had to offer.

I welcome any opportunity to test a new immutable Linux distro. Over the weekend, I discovered ShaniOS.

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ShaniOS is an Arch-based Linux distribution that is immutable and includes Flatpak integration. The key features of this new OS include:

• Immutable core with blue-green deployment
• Flatpak application management
• Enhanced security with AppArmor profiles, firewalled configurations, and full-disk encryption
• Performance optimizations such as dynamic swap file creation and Nvidia GPU support

What is blue-green deployment?

Using Btrfs subvolumes, the system maintains two complete system states — labeled “blue” and “green.”  Only one state is active at any time, so atomic updates and rollbacks can occur with the highest level of reliability. 

For example, if you’re using the blue environment, updates are applied to the green environment and then tested. You can then switch from the blue to the green environment during a reboot. In other words, you will always have a working instance of your OS, without fail.

Also: What is immutable Linux? Here’s why you’d run an immutable Linux distro

If something goes wrong with one environment, reboot and switch to the other.

Open a terminal and issue the command sudo shani-deploy and watch the magic happen. The command does the following:

1. Downloads updates for the inactive environment.
2. Applies the updates without affecting the active environment.
3. Configures the bootloader to use the updated environment.
4. Ensures instant rollback capability in case the update does not work properly.

Because this is an immutable system that leverages the blue/green approach, applications are managed in two ways:

• Flatpak for desktop apps
• Containers for development apps

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I ran the sudo shani-deploy command, and it took a total of 7 minutes and 40 seconds. Please note that I’ve only been testing the distribution for a few days, so there isn’t a lot installed. Had I installed a lot of applications and saved a lot of data, that time would most likely be considerably longer. However, the command ran flawlessly, and I could switch from one environment to the other upon the next reboot.

What ShaniOS is like

You can download a version of ShaniOS with either GNOME or KDE Plasma. I went the KDE Plasma route and found the UI to be quite lovely. The developers have tweaked KDE Plasma so that it looks unique but still functions very similarly to the default desktop environment.

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You’ll find the desktop menu in the top left corner (as opposed to the bottom left), and the theme is nice and glassy. The preinstalled application list includes Vivaldi, OnlyOffice, Warehouse (for Flatpak app management), KolourPaint, Pods (container management), and more. Although it may not be an extensive list of preinstalled apps, you can always launch KDE Plasma’s Discover app and install any additional software you need. Because Flatpak is baked into Discover, you’ll find tons of apps to install.

Outside of the striking KDE Plasma theming, one of the first things that impressed me was how fast ShaniOS performed. I’ve used numerous immutable Linux distributions before, but I don’t recall testing one that performed as well as this one.

I also tested the blue/green environments. While using the blue environment, I ran the sudo shani-deploy command. When the deploy command finished, I rebooted and selected the green environment. Everything was flawless. I was even alerted to test the apps to ensure they work as expected — which they did.

While running the green environment, I created and saved a file to the Documents directory. I then ran the shani-deploy command, only to be alerted that there was a boot mismatch and that the system expected to boot blue but found green was running. 

The ideal distro for new users

I then remembered that the OS alerted me to test applications to ensure they work, and then reboot to apply everything. I followed the instructions, and the changes were applied to the blue environment, resulting in everything being exactly as expected.

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This system is really impressive. In fact, ShaniOS has me thinking that immutable Linux distributions might be the ideal option for new users because they are so bulletproof. And with the blue/green deployment scheme, ShaniOS might well be the best of the best.

I highly recommend giving this immutable Linux distribution a try and seeing if it doesn’t impress you as much as it did me. Grab either the GNOME or KDE Plasma edition, install it on a spare computer (or as a virtual machine), and experience this fantastic operating system.