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We're experimenting with bootc-based images (silverblue) for IT lab builds. The motivation for us is that these are effectively non-owned (ie, multi-user) machines that should all be the same. They fit into the 'cattle not pets' mindset so the approach makes a lot of sense (we can also be reasonably sure they have the same setup, minus anything people have tinkered with and with minimal system-specific state). To make it work, we're also looking at user containers (podman/toolbx) and flatpaks to isolate applications/dev envelopments from the host. The user/student only does everything in disposal sandboxes that don't affect the host directly. That being said, on my home (desktop) systems they very much more 'pets than cattle' - thats where I learn and dev and for the most part they are single-user systems where if something breaks, I'm the one who's responsible for fixing them. In that kind of situation I use dotfile mangers, keep good system backups (vota) and make heavy use of my NAS for important file storage. They are two very different use cases, and the deep levels of customisation I do with my home machines to make them 'mine' is very different than the 'this must work like the other 300 of these things' mindset of the lab images. I can see the appeal of the 'configuration lead' approaches of things like nix (use absible for servers) but for a machine built out of parts that are unique and have a silly number of odd edge case uses scripting that isn't a useful use of my time. My server based systems I try to use configuration tools (ansible) to reduce the bus factor. If a bus experiences an unscheduled collision with myself then my experiments with gruvbox themes, or mucking around with Wayland compositors arn't important, peoples email server configuration is. Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse brevity. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG FAQ: https://www.dcglug.org.uk/faq/