Introduction
openSUSE Aeon provides the Chromebook experience, on Linux.
- Get all of your apps in one place
- Work without interruption, as updates occur in the background
Paradigm
What advantages does this approach have?
Sandboxed
Apps are isolated from each other, and the rest of the system.
You decide whether an app should be allowed to access your files, the internet, or your webcam.
Immutable
Crucial files can’t be modified while the system is running.
Instead, updates are applied the next time you start the computer.
Rolling
Leverage the latest, thoroughly tested software (from openSUSE Tumbleweed).
Something not working properly? Roll the system back in time!
Minimal
Get all the functionality you need, without having unnecessary software installed.
Ideal for computers with limited storage space.
Containerised
Run any Linux distribution - any app, any service.
All seamlessly integrated into Aeon.
Apps
When installing apps, you will want to use this order of preference:
- Install device drivers with Transactional Update
- Install graphical apps from GNOME Software
- Install console apps using Distrobox
Most of the time, you’ll be using GNOME Software.
Transactional Update
Open the Terminal, and enter:
sudo transactional-update pkg install
Followed by the packages you want to install.
sudo transactional-update pkg install sl htop neofetch
These packages are used as an example. You should only install drivers for hardware that isn’t supported out of the box.
You can search for packages on the openSUSE website, or with zypper:
zypper search
Pitfalls
Transactional updates are performed in the background, and will be cancelled if any errors are encountered during the update process.
For example, updating a package which requires a license agreement. With background updates, the user is unable to answer the prompt given by the package manager, causing the update to be cancelled.
GNOME Software
Apps are isolated from each other, and the rest of the system.
Apps are confined to their own folder - this is beneficial, because there is no risk of breakage.
In a traditional Linux distribution, having two apps which rely on the same file can be risky. The file could be overwritten, or deleted.
In an immutable Linux distribution, these files are independent of each other, or shared in a read-only fashion.
Permissions
You decide whether an app should be allowed to access your files, the internet, or your webcam.
Apps come with default permissions that you may not need.
If you are familiar with Linux concepts (such as display servers), read this article about desktop Linux hardening, then install Flatseal to configure permissions.
Here are some examples to get you started.
Distrobox
Distrobox is a powerful tool for users who aren’t averse to using the terminal. Need an app that isn’t available in GNOME Software? Install it from a Distrobox container instead.
On Aeon, Distrobox defaults to installing an openSUSE Tumbleweed container. Packages on openSUSE are installed using the zypper command:
distrobox-enter
sudo zypper install neovim
Apps installed to a Distrobox container can be exported to Aeon:
distrobox-enter
sudo zypper install neovim-gtk
distrobox-export --app nvim-gtk
The app will then appear in the list of applications:
Apps installed in a container are indistinguishable from apps installed with GNOME Software.
Exporting
The --app option requires the filename of the program. You can find this using rpm:
rpm --query --list neovim-gtk | grep /usr/bin
/usr/bin/nvim-gtk
grep is used to search for relevant results - programs are installed to the /usr/bin folder on openSUSE.
To learn more, type distrobox-export --help, or read the source code comments.
Conclusion
Suitable for both casual users and software developers, openSUSE Aeon adopts the ChromeOS paradigm and transplants it to Linux with resounding success.
Do you enjoy the simplicity and security of installing apps from Google Play or the App Store? Then you’ll love GNOME Software.
Aeon is state of the art. Take notes, Windows and macOS.
Addenda
openSUSE MicroOS Desktop was recently renamed to openSUSE Aeon.
This post was kindly shared by the following people:
Initial tweet from the venerable Jorge Castro
Retweeted by Richard Brown — former openSUSE Release Engineer
Shared by the openSUSE Project