this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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I don't really want to be the tiger but what do you do on immutable distros when you want to e.g. compile a C program from source (say, an SDL game). I always thought being able to easily install popular libraries from package manager a huge advantage of Linux over windows and mac.
It's a good question, and it has a definitive answer: Distrobox.
https://docs.bazzite.gg/Installing_and_Managing_Software/Distrobox/
You can also run applications from within the container. I have a Debian based container (but you can use whatever you prefer, I just happened to find a guide for getting jetbrains IDEs working well with a Debian one) with the Jetbrains suite installed and all of the development tools I need.
Since getting comfortable using distrobox, I prefer to use it for dev environments even when I'm not using an atomic distro. It doesn't add any additional friction.
Are you asking an average user to compile programs?
If they can't be downloaded fully functionally from the internet, they do not exist to them.
I bet most newcomers wouldn't even know what that means
Well I can see a newcomer finding a program they want to run on github and there are instructions for compiling the program for e.g. Ubuntu which if they were Fedora user they would be able to adapt to themselves without much trouble. But since they are using a distro that decided that installing packages globally is bad for some reason they are very much on their own. Sure I think it's possible and there are methods documented somewhere (and maybe it's even better practice than installing dependencies from package manager), but it seems unlikely that anyone in the program's community can help unless they have experience with immutable distros.
I just wonder what are the benefits for which people are chosing distros that so deviate from what most other Linux users use.
It's easy enough, it's just a pain in the arse to update anything once changed. The simple answer is that most users never run into that situation. The average Bazzite user would still be on windows if it didn't actively get in the way of just playing videogames, so they're not even exploring the Bazaar, never mind compiling something from source. Steam and Firefox come preinstalled, they might install Discord and Heroic, and that's them set. Immutability means they can just play their games without disturbances.
Bazzite users that do have problems with its immutability just move to a mutable distro, but most computer users who need a mutable distro are already on Linux. The new wave of OS migration is coming from Linux being easier to engage with than ever before and Windows being the worst it's ever been, not people with a particular interest in the OS and computing. They want something that Just Works without the Apple price tag.
I chose bazzite because it had all the gaming shit included and I wanted to get some experience with a known good configuration before I tried starting from scratch. So far I haven't ran into any problems other than the install script someone made to get my 3d printer working with cura doesn't work. I think I can manually put the files where they need to go but wasn't able to figure it out when I tried a few weeks ago.
Bazzite can provide a full user experience for 99% of the user base, who just want to get rid of Microsoft. Probably most of them would need to search the web to find out what it means to compile programs.