{"slug": "rpm-ostree", "name": "rpm-ostree", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 9, "warners": 2, "score": 1.891, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2025-11-29", "latest": "2026-07-14", "why": "With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 1, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "bazzite.gg", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["rpm-ostree"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 782572704, "item_id": 48910794, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910794", "by": "haunter", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Yes, rpm-ostree solves that", "excerpt": "Yes, rpm-ostree solves that https://docs.bazzite.gg/Installing_and_Managing_Software/rpm-ostree/ https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/", "context": "", "use_case": "Installing software on immutable OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK"}, {"id": 755905185, "item_id": 47244074, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47244074", "by": "gucci-on-fleek", "date": "2026-03-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it works pretty well in my experience", "excerpt": "> If you change the package defined in the bottom most layer, all 49 above it are invalid and need re-pulled or re-built. I also initially thought that that was the case, but some tools are able to work around that [0] [1] [2]. I have no idea how it works, but it works pretty well in my experience. [0]: https://github.com/hhd-dev/rechunk/ [1]: https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/container/#creating-chunked-images [2]", "context": "", "use_case": "Chunked container image builds", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mount Mayhem at Netflix: Scaling Containers on Modern CPUs"}, {"id": 745091459, "item_id": 46568216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568216", "by": "lunar_rover", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "excerpt": "Started with Debian 10 GNOME, switched to KDE 5 for its features, went back because of the design issues(KDE 6 is much better). After a few years I switched and settled on Fedora Silverblue. With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 755074082, "item_id": 47192130, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47192130", "by": "faust201", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "rpm-ostree - same.", "excerpt": "Not download. I have a good connection. - Installation is slow. REally slow. They blame it on btrfs. But the same for XFS. It took at least 30 min. Why? - rpm-ostree - same. https://github.com/ublue-os/bluefin/discussions/4087", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Bug Is a Bug, but a Patch Is a Policy: The Case for Bootable Containers"}, {"id": 744501680, "item_id": 46531355, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46531355", "by": "4ggr0", "date": "2026-01-07", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the tech is freaking buggy, annoying and deprecated already", "excerpt": "> rpm-ostree is a PITA yup...at first i thought, \"at work i have to manage rpm-ostree servers, so why not use the same tech at home?\", well, because the tech is freaking buggy, annoying and deprecated already (imagemode/bootc). Bazzite also had strange issues with the XBOX controllers i use, those issues went away with CachyOS. in the end it doesn't matter that much, on both i use(d) KDE Plasma. GF also uses the PC w", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["installing software on immutable os", "layered immutable os updates", "chunked container image builds", "package layering"], "compared": [{"slug": "bazzite", "name": "Bazzite", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "bootc", "name": "bootc", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48360414", "title": "Making Debian or Fedora persistent live images", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46526376", "title": "Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48909424", "title": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47204203", "title": "Mount Mayhem at Netflix: Scaling Containers on Modern CPUs", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47086900", "title": "A Bug Is a Bug, but a Patch Is a Policy: The Case for Bootable Containers", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566465", "title": "I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"warn": 1, "compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 782572704, "item_id": 48910794, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910794", "by": "haunter", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Yes, rpm-ostree solves that", "excerpt": "Yes, rpm-ostree solves that https://docs.bazzite.gg/Installing_and_Managing_Software/rpm-ostree/ https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/", "context": "", "use_case": "Installing software on immutable OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK"}, {"id": 774486800, "item_id": 48405425, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48405425", "by": "4llan", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "rpm-ostree is being phased-out in favor of bootc[1], which uses ostree in the underlying code. 1. https://bootc.dev/bootc/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Making Debian or Fedora persistent live images"}, {"id": 774461441, "item_id": 48403840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48403840", "by": "danudey", "date": "2026-06-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It's great in the sense of 'I want a reliable and robust system', though it's awful in that", "excerpt": "It's probably worth also mentioning ostree, and maybe specifically rpm-ostree: https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/ 1. Versioned, checksummed OS images 2. Local changes layered on top 3. Change the underlying tree (upgrade or rollback) without affecting user data and then replay the local changes. It's great in the sense of 'I want a reliable and robust system', though it's awful in that if I want to install foobar-d", "context": "", "use_case": "layered immutable OS updates", "switched_from": "", "story": "Making Debian or Fedora persistent live images"}, {"id": 755905185, "item_id": 47244074, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47244074", "by": "gucci-on-fleek", "date": "2026-03-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it works pretty well in my experience", "excerpt": "> If you change the package defined in the bottom most layer, all 49 above it are invalid and need re-pulled or re-built. I also initially thought that that was the case, but some tools are able to work around that [0] [1] [2]. I have no idea how it works, but it works pretty well in my experience. [0]: https://github.com/hhd-dev/rechunk/ [1]: https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/container/#creating-chunked-images [2]", "context": "", "use_case": "Chunked container image builds", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mount Mayhem at Netflix: Scaling Containers on Modern CPUs"}, {"id": 755074082, "item_id": 47192130, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47192130", "by": "faust201", "date": "2026-02-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "rpm-ostree - same.", "excerpt": "Not download. I have a good connection. - Installation is slow. REally slow. They blame it on btrfs. But the same for XFS. It took at least 30 min. Why? - rpm-ostree - same. https://github.com/ublue-os/bluefin/discussions/4087", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A Bug Is a Bug, but a Patch Is a Policy: The Case for Bootable Containers"}, {"id": 745091459, "item_id": 46568216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568216", "by": "lunar_rover", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "excerpt": "Started with Debian 10 GNOME, switched to KDE 5 for its features, went back because of the design issues(KDE 6 is much better). After a few years I switched and settled on Fedora Silverblue. With rpm-ostree automatic updates are so reliable it's a set and forget experience.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great"}, {"id": 744669394, "item_id": 46541837, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46541837", "by": "hollerith", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "compare", "quote": "bootc can by itself completely replace rpm-ostree", "excerpt": "Bazzite is part of Universal Blue. Source: https://universal-blue.org/#images. The first paragraph of the home page of https://universal-blue.org/ ends with \"We produce a diverse set of continuously delivered operating system images using bootc.\" Another author explains: \"Bazzite utilizes bootc to manage the base image for your system, pin specific versions, and perform rollbacks when needed. For systems with customi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files"}, {"id": 744501680, "item_id": 46531355, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46531355", "by": "4ggr0", "date": "2026-01-07", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the tech is freaking buggy, annoying and deprecated already", "excerpt": "> rpm-ostree is a PITA yup...at first i thought, \"at work i have to manage rpm-ostree servers, so why not use the same tech at home?\", well, because the tech is freaking buggy, annoying and deprecated already (imagemode/bootc). Bazzite also had strange issues with the XBOX controllers i use, those issues went away with CachyOS. in the end it doesn't matter that much, on both i use(d) KDE Plasma. GF also uses the PC w", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files"}, {"id": 737480833, "item_id": 46092552, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46092552", "by": "SamDc73", "date": "2025-11-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "rpm-ostree (which you really shouldn\u2019t touch unless you absolutely have to)", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve been using it for a couple of months on my main dev machine (I don\u2019t game much). It\u2019s my first exposure to immutable systems. I love the idea, but honestly, juggling all these package managers gets annoying really fast; for now what I use is rpm-ostree (which you really shouldn\u2019t touch unless you absolutely have to), Flatpak, Homebrew (some package are mac only or mac first), and distrobox (with arch). Every now", "context": "", "use_case": "package layering", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bazzite: Operating System for Linux gaming"}]}