Remote-Url: https://venam.nixers.net/blog/programming/2021/01/26/future-of-distros.html
Retrieved-at: 2022-01-31 10:00:50.749325+00:00

The year of the Linux desktop is coming, and it looks like a piñata of
micro-services. Let’s break it and see the candies inside.systemd core — the building block framework abstracting basic functionalitiesA universal package manager with a single repository where anyone can pushflatpak/appimage/snap — containarized applicationspolkit, desktop portal, and apparmor — granular securitysystemd-homed — movable home with an immutable base systemwayland compositors — the graphical environmentpipewire — media pipelineIf you’re bored you can leave now, that’s it. Otherwise, let me get more
ideas out, but nothing surprising to anyone that has been following RedHat,
the freedesktop.org, and systemd.The key innovation of the picture I lay above is that every
layer in the system is now isolated and communicate with one
another through d-bus services. D-bus isfantastic in its own
rightand good at
abstracting functionalities.All of these pieces need one another. Wayland compositors need pipewire
to be able to access media hardware, and pipewire needs a polkit-like
mechanism (D-Bus services such as policy managers and desktop portals)
to select who can do that. Similarly, containarized applications access
the rest of the system through systemd services, polkit, portals,
and pipewire.What this leads to is a base system that is stable, a solid framework
to build on. The home is transportable inside a systemd-homed, along
with the containarized apps, proprietary or not.The deep secret insider info I got tells me that this is a giant scheme
to get us all in a vendor lock-in. I can lie, this is the internet.Or better (or worse?), this is a new Android ecosystem.Who’s going to nag when this is all done in the open; when the open
source movers are the implementers of the de-facto implementations;
when they keep piling the standards until nobody can follow them.I believe the direction the Linux desktop is going towards will
bring more incentives for investments. Distributions uniqueness
won’t matter anymore as they’ll be centralized around a “store”
where devs will push directly. (see previous post about distros
roles)Leave a comment if you weren’t aware of this vision of how distros will
look in the future.If you want to have a more in depth discussion I'm always available byemail or irc.
We can discuss and argue about what you like and dislike, about new ideas to consider, opinions, etc..If you don't feel like "having a discussion" or are intimidated by emails
then you can simply say something small in the comment sections below
and/or share it with your friends.