I built a systemd-sysext with nmap, screen, iperf etc based on https://github.com/fedora-sysexts/fedora
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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If you want to go play with /etc/fstab and you have a concept of "everyday cli tools"an immutable distro is not for you. An immutable distro is made for people that do not use a computer but use a browser.
If you want to go play with /etc/fstab and you have a concept of "everyday cli tools"an immutable distro is not for you.
Please don't conflate stuff.
On Fedora Atomic^[And probably most distros that are -perhaps erroneously- referred to as "immutable", though the finer details might be different.], it's possible to:
- Change the content of
/etc/fstab. Heck, the same applies to everything under/etc. The only difference being that a pristine copy is kept at/usr/etcAND the fact that any changes to/etcare being tracked. Said changes can be accessed withostree admin config-diff. - Install CLI apps just fine. Refer to this comment for more details.
An immutable distro is made for people that do not use a computer but use a browser.
False. Again.
While I agree that it's a very sane recommendation to the technologically inept, it would be a huge disservice to suggest it can't handle more advanced workloads. Because, quite frankly, there's very little it actually fails at. And most of its user base would vouch for this. And that list of restrictions/limitations is becoming smaller as we speak...
I never said it was impossible, I said it is not for the op. The simple fact they don't see an apparent way to install simple tools or modify fstab would be for me unacceptable, I prefer freeballing my OS, thank you very much. I simply assumed op was more like me and less like you.
The terminal motd tells you exactly how to use the packages involved when you open it.
I switch back and forth between bazzite and bluefin quite often
on these and other immutable distributions, /usr is read-only, and the recommended is to use installation methods that write to your HOME (or to /var which is where docker and flatpak --system save files)
i really should muck about with container-based development flows
my current preference is flatpak, then whatever per-language package tooling (e.g. cargo for tools written in Rust, npm with a custom HOME prefix for tools written in Node.js, uv for Python projects, etc) when there's no flatpak, then homebrew, then rpm-ostree as a last resort
for editing files in /etc my recommendation would be to set the EDITOR environment variable to point at whatever you like, installed however you like, and edit with sudoedit /etc/fstab, because then your editor is not running with root permissions
you could also point EDITOR at a custom script that mounts the target file into a container running your desired editor
Distrobox is pretty shrimple
Install them in your $HOME
For example $HOME/MY_CLI_TOOLS
Add it to your $PATH
~/.local/bin
This is the exact reason the entire concept behind a immutable distro is beyond dog shit
Unless your use case is something like a console where modifications are not intended to happen expect as an extreme outlier. They fucking suck, they make no fucking sense, and just create endless problems if you want to do anything with your hardware.
Its basically re fucking inventing the exact problem that shit like ios has.
You don't own a computer with an immutable distro. Your distro is assuming your a child too ignorant and stupid to be trusted to do anything with it.
Its security for the sake of protecting idiots from them selves.
Pretty strong and judgemental opinions. Also incorrect 😀
Immutable distros are great for the overwhelming majority of all computer users. Most people want a computer that lets them web browser, game, consume media, and do application based productivity like editing (documents, photos, illustrations, video, etc.). In fact, that was too generous of a description because most people just consume content.
If your distro requires cli for regular usage and requires manual maintenance, it's only suitable for computer adepts, which is a small minority of all computer users. You are not the average computer user. No one on this site is. If you can't see that then you aren't in touch with reality.
You seem really angry about a concept you clearly do not actually understand.
Just to be very clear: the name "immutable distro" is unfortunately a misnomer. In practice, the restrictions found on so-called ~~"immutable"~~ atomic distros are very tame.
For example, on Fedora Atomic^[The atomic distro I'm most familiar with.], it's mostly a paradigm shift. That is, you can achieve (almost) everything that you can on a traditional distro, the only difference being how.
So, if we would take OP's query as an example, they are not able to do sudo dnf install vim btop. Instead^[Knowing that they're on Bluefin, a derivative.], they have to do brew install vim btop. Additionally, these changes persist, as you'd expect. Please note that this is just one of the ways/methods you can achieve this on Bluefin (and other Fedora Atomic derivatives). Other methods include:
- Install within a distrobox and export it.
- Simply layer it.
- Make a custom image that installs these by default and switch to said custom image.
- Install as a sysext.
As you'd expect, each one of these comes with its own set of tradeoffs.
To be honest. Immutable distros are not for everyone. Tinkerers especially would not be suited to use them, because of all the "restrictions" in place.
Better to find another distro in that case.
Just about everyone who has made meaningful contributions to Bluefin are tinkerers. The entire stack is designed to tinker and customize.
I'm not sure.
I'm a professional tinkerer and I run Debian stable. OK ok it's not an immutable distro but my point is that I do tinker, just NOT with my main OS.
I'll tinker in containers, in VMs, in my ~/bin etc but NOT in what hosts all that.
So I would argue that what's important for tinkerers is to establish clear boundaries on what they want to tinker on and what they do NOT want to tinker on, what can change vs what should never.
But a simple thing like "install a random cli tool to run on host" is often not easy on immutable distros, so it's usually just more convinient with an oldschool distro in those cases.
It's one command in Bluefin, same as everything else.
I don't think it actually is. It's only like that the very first time when you haven't you this specific distribution itself. Once you know how the few extra step and understand the core principle, it's trivial.
PS: I did tinker with NixOS, SteamOS and ROCKNIX.
That's the neat part - You don't! (unless you want incredibly long update times as every new util is a new overlay!)
Incredibly long update time? Yeah... No. Definitely not something in had any issues with due to layered packages.
And to create your own image, you need half the repo as dependency and a 20 steps chain.
Not in my experience. Though, I suppose I have to thank BlueBuild for the heavy lifting. It's not even restrictive either, even big^[relatively speaking] projects like secureblue depend on it.
I think you're supposed to use brew on uBlue.
ie. "The Gnome Way"* exported to the OS as a whole.
* Strip all features but allow them back as plugins that aren't supported or secured.
I don't think you understand the point of an immutable distro.