Jon Seager, Vice President at Canonical for Engineering and Technical Leader of the Ubuntu project, announced the resumption of work on the Ubuntu Core Desktop project, which develops an alternative desktop edition of Ubuntu using resources from the Ubuntu Core platform and employs Snap packages instead of deb packages.
Unlike existing atomically updatable distributions, where system components are mounted in read-only mode, Ubuntu Core Desktop utilizes a model of 'all components in Snap format'. In this model, the content of the system environment, the Linux kernel, bootloader, desktop environments, multimedia servers, background processes, and applications are delivered in Snap format and managed by the snapd tools.
In contrast to the previously developed prototype, the distribution aims to be more modular, dividing the base system into a set of separately updatable Snap packages instead of supplying a single Snap package with the Ubuntu Core system environment. All applications are intended to run in isolation from the main system, and for packages that do not support isolation, a layer will be provided for running using virtualization.
To control applications' access to system and external resources, a permissions request mechanism is being developed that requires user confirmation for access, for example, when Snap packages attempt to access files in the user’s home directory, a webcam, or a microphone. Dynamic output of requests is made based on the analysis of system call accesses, and access control is organized using AppArmor.
Development is focused on three basic use case scenarios:
- A workstation where the primary activity is associated with using a web browser and working with web applications. This scenario is considered the quickest to implement, as there are already available Snap packages for Firefox and Chromium, as well as established support for permission requests when accessing the camera and microphone.
- Et system for softwareudviklere, der muliggør brug af flere udviklingsmiljøer samtidigt, installeret i isolerede miljøer ved hjælp af værktøjet workshop, der anvender LXD til at håndtere containere. Hvis der er behov for at køre applikationer fra deb-pakker, pakker i flatpak-format eller klassiske snap-pakker, der ikke fungerer oven på Ubuntu Core, vil containere eller virtualisering blive brugt.
- Et system for computerspilentusiaster, bygget omkring snap-pakken Steam. De forskellige komponenter i spilstakken, såsom Proton, Mesa og drivere, vil også blive leveret i snap-format, hvilket giver mulighed for at installere de nyeste versioner af disse komponenter eller bruge forskellige versioner med forskellige spil.
I forberedelserne til den næste Ubuntu-udgivelse er der planer om at adskille de forskellige komponenter i skrivebordsmiljøet i separate moduler, danne snap-grænseflader for at understøtte forskellige funktioner og brugsscenarier for skrivebordet samt teste den nye arkitektur for Ubuntu Core Desktop på de tre nævnte brugsscenarier. Derudover er der i samarbejde med udviklerne af KDE Neon startet et arbejde på en variant af distributionssystemet KDE Neon, der implementeres oven på Ubuntu Core, hvilket vil gøre det muligt at tilpasse Ubuntu Core Desktop til at støtte forskellige skriveborde, ikke kun GNOME.
Kilde: opennet.ru
