After two years of development, the Vanilla OS 3 user distribution, based on the package base, has been released. Debian, but goes beyond a simple rebuild. The system environment in Vanilla OS is mounted read-only and updated atomically, and applications run in separate containers using a layer based on the Distrobox toolchain. The user environment is unmodified GNOME, delivered as originally released by the developers. Custom graphical configuration tools are written in GTK4 using Libadwaita. The ISO image size is 1.8 GB (x86_64, arm64).
To atomically update the system, the project is developing the ABRoot toolkit, which creates two identical root partitions on the drive - active and passive. The system update is downloaded in its entirety and installed on the passive partition, and after a reboot the partitions are swapped - the partition with the installed update becomes active, and the previous active partition is switched to passive mode and awaits the installation of the next update. Updates are checked and installed automatically in the background during periods of minimal system load and when sufficient battery power is available. The frequency of checking for updates is configurable. The installed update is activated at the next reboot. If something goes wrong after the update, you roll back to the previous version.
Additional applications are installed in separate containers using the proprietary apx package manager, which allows you to install packages from different distributions in isolated sandbox environments (for example, you can install packages from Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux and Fedora). The package manager is implemented as a wrapper around the Distrobox toolkit, allowing you to quickly install and run any distribution in a container. Linux and ensure its integration with the main system. The container-based package format (Flatpak, Snap, or Appimage) is selected during the first run.
For system administration, the VSO (Vanilla System Operator) tool is being developed, allowing for tasks such as updating the system, changing settings, and creating tasks linked to specific actions (for example, you can run a task to display a notification after the battery is fully charged). A built-in launch option is provided. Android-applications using the Waydroid toolkit.
In the new version:
- Added support for ARM64 architecture.
- Support for reproducible builds has been implemented, allowing users to create custom builds that are bit-for-bit identical to the pre-built builds available for download (excluding builds supplied with proprietary NVIDIA drivers). Users can personally verify that the binaries distributed in the boot images are built from the provided source code and do not contain any hidden modifications.
- Component versions have been updated, including the kernel Linux 7.1 and GNOME 50.
- Ptyxis replaces BlackBox as the terminal emulator, Papers replaces Evince as the document viewer, and Resources replaces GNOME System Monitor. File Roller and Photos are no longer included in the default distribution.
- The First Setup interface, which launches automatically after the update, now includes options for installing new applications and removing obsolete ones.
- The Apx application manager and VSO (Vanilla System Operator) configurator have been rewritten using the new Vanilla SDK, which unifies the standard libraries and utilities used in developing custom applications. Support for interface localization into different languages using PO files has been added. Apx settings have been moved from apx.json to config.json. The Apx graphical interface, supplied with Vanilla OS 3 as a flatpak package, is located in the Flathub directory. The branch is used as the basis for generating the VSO image. Debian Testing instead Debian Sid (unstable).
- For installation and running in containers of any distributions Linux The development branch of the Distrobox 2 toolset (2.0.0-rc.4) is used, rewritten in Go.
- Added Vanilla Continuity backup tools, which use snapshots to back up files from the home directory, installed Flatpak packages, and ABRoot metadata. Snapshots can be saved to a local directory, an external drive, or a remote location. server, accessible via SFTP, FTP or NFS.
- The tools for creating custom Vib (Vanilla Image Builder) builds have been updated. The new version adds features for cleaning unused directories and mounting source code into a container during the build instead of copying it.
Source: opennet.ru
