[$] An alternate path for immutable distributions

LWN has had a number of articles on immutable distributions,
such as Bluefin and
Bazzite, in recent years. These distributions have taken a variety of approaches, including
using

rpm-ostree, filesystem snapshots, and
bootable container (bootc) images. But those
approaches, especially the latter, lead to extra complexity for a user
attempting to install new software, instead of just
using the existing package manager.

AshOS (Any Snapshot Hierarchical OS) is an experimental AGPL-3-licensed
“meta-distribution” that tried a different approach more in line with
traditional package management. Although the project is no longer updated,
it remains usable, and can still shed some light on a potential alternate path for users
worried about adopting bootc-based approaches.