Linux distribution Manjaro: Immutable version available for testing

The Linux distribution Manjaro will in future also be available as an immutable version with an "immutable core". The developers have now made a first test version available.

In an immutable Linux distribution, the operating system kernel remains write-protected and cannot be changed during operation. The software, on the other hand, can be installed on the secure, protected kernel. This is intended to increase the security and stability of the system. The Manjaro team relies on Arkdep from the Arkane Linux project for this.

Manjaro Immutable: Still experimental

In their announcement, the Manjaro developers write that the version is still experimental and does not yet represent the final version. There is therefore no guarantee of support and is intended to collect feedback from the community regarding the technology on which Manjaro Immutable is based. Anyone wishing to test the Immutable version should therefore not install it as the main operating system, at least for now.

The system requirements are moderate. At least 32 gigabytes of disk space, but 64 or more gigabytes are recommended. The (virtual) machine must also offer a UEFI boot. The installation can be started from the ISO file using the Manjaro Immutable graphical installer – for example under QEMU or Virtualbox, the developers suggest.

The project maintainers also give a few hints in the announcement as to what those willing to test can try out. For example, installing an update with the command sudo arkdep deploy – none should be found yet, but if it is, the machine should be restarted after application. The KDE desktop environment can be set up using sudo arkdep deploy test-manjaro-kde. However, the repo_default_image in /arkdep/config still needs to be adjusted so that KDE starts by default instead of Gnome.

Technology in the background

The Manjaro developers explain that Arkdep is a simple shell script. It depends on a few GNU core tools such as Coreutils, Bash, Btrfs, wget, curl and Systemd and does not require a dedicated infrastructure for use – accordingly, it has no wild dependencies and "does not work with magic". A provider uses it to create the images, which are uploaded to a simple HTTP repository and downloaded from Arkdep. Self-created images could even be distributed completely locally from the Arkdep cache.

(dmk)