openSUSE Leap Micro 5.5 Beta Published For This Container & VM Focused Distro

[uid313]

From what I understand, Alpine is supposed to small and simple with components like BusyBox and OpenRC. OpenSUSE MicroOS is just as complex as OpenSUSE in respect to systemd and similar components. It's containerisation of the normal OpenSUSE server components with Flatpak for additions. I seen some positive things written about OpenSUSE Aeon, MicroOS with Gnome, in the OpenSUSE mailing lists, but I was waiting for Kalpa (KDE version) before kicking the tires on a containerised approach. There's an article about MicroOS at LWN, it was written back in March, so things have moved on a bit since then.

I thought Flatpak was for desktop applications. Why would a container want or need Flatpak?
Also why have GNOME or KDE on a container?
I thought it was suppose to be as minimal as possible to only run server applications.

[digitaltrails]

I thought Flatpak was for desktop applications. Why would a container want or need Flatpak?
Also why have GNOME or KDE on a container?
I thought it was suppose to be as minimal as possible to only run server applications.

Correct, OpenSUSE MicroOS is for servers and it will be light weight out of the box. But it doesn't end there, the developers think that the same model will be useful for folk who want resilient desktops - any issues with updates, just boot back to the last working snapshot. Variants of MicroOS have been created for Gnome (MicroOS Aeon) and for KDE (Kalpa) (see the diagram I posted earlier). Each user would install flatpacks to obtain applications (some common/basic applications might be available as RPM's for the base-OS).

Quoting https://en.opensuse.org/Portal:Aeon:

Who is openSUSE Aeon for?
It is NOT for everyone. Your highly customizable Tumbleweed & Leap Desktops are safe and will remain the best choice for those who want to tinker with their Desktop.

It should be perfect for lazy developers, who no longer want to mess around with their desktop and just ”get stuff done”, especially if they develop around containers.

It should also appeal to the same audience now more used to an iOS, Chromebook or Android-like experience where the OS is static, automated & reliable and the Apps are the main thing the user cares about.