5 ms·

JuNest – The lightweight Arch based distro that runs upon any Linux distribution

78 points by pantalaimon 5y ago

akdor1154 5y ago
Fabulous.. i had been toying with PoC-ing exactly this ("there is a pkgbuild for most of the random small projects i use, can't i just use that? I like my Debian/Ubuntu/Pop base system, but I hate checking for a new GitHub release all the time/using an appimage/flatpak/etc bundle/manually pulling and building master/etc")
eatonphil 5y ago
> Almost everything is shared between host OS and the JuNest sandbox (kernel, process subtree, network, mounting, etc) and only the root filesystem gets isolated (as the programs installed in JuNest need to reside elsewhere). And > Run on a different architecture from the host OS via QEMU How is it possible to share the process tree between a QEMU host and guest? Network and mounting filesystems yeah that sounds normal but sharing a process tree?
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  Presumably QEMU is available as a fallback when the guest binaries cannot run directly on the host CPU.
- danhor 5y ago
  If only the binary is emulated by QEMU and sharing the same Kernel, this should work fine. Similar to what Apple is doing with their x86-to-ARM tech.
- phaer 5y ago
  you are probably thinking about qemu system emulation, simulating a whole computer? There's also qemu user space emulation which would fit the quoted description: https://qemu.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/main.html https://qemu.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/main.html
benbristow 5y ago
For when you want to boast that you run Arch and take those screenfetch screenshots but you don't actually want to properly run Arch because you've got better things to be doing with your time.
- peakaboo 5y ago
  Yeah that hour installing Arch to get the best Linux distro on the planet...tough decision! I'm a long time Arch user and it's just the best system there is. Pacman with the Aur has literally everything in its latest version. When I need anything at all to be installed, it takes me 10 seconds to type a single command and then I have it. But sure, if you think the install is difficult despite the billions of user guides, Pop OS would be my second choice. It's really really stable and beautiful and fast.
  - atweiden 5y ago
    Void [1] gives Arch a run for its money, particularly if you want musl-libc or non-systemd init. I’m a long-time user of both. Chimera [2] is also worth watching. [1]: https://voidlinux.org/ https://voidlinux.org/ [2]: https://chimera-linux.org/ https://chimera-linux.org/
    - pantalaimon 5y ago
      musl sounds like too much of a hassle. Too much stuff out there depends on glibc, if you don't know what software you are going to be running, that sounds like a world of pain.
      - Cloudef 5y ago
        I'm running void musl, but have glibc musl chroot for problematic apps or use flatpak for stuff like steam.
  - benbristow 5y ago
    > if you think the install is difficult despite the billions of user guides I've installed Arch from scratch many a time. It's not the setup, it's keeping it working that's the interesting bit.
throwamon 5y ago
Has anyone here tried to run this in NixOS?
- spindle 5y ago
  It's not in nixpkgs, so I guess nobody's made a derivation for it. It would be nice.
  - seniorivn 5y ago
    adding a package to nixpkgs is much more hussle than writing an experimental derivation for an interesting package
zmix 5y ago
Finally I can use Arc, btw.!
artemonster 5y ago
This saved me once to enable me to install my own updated tools on an outdated centos (as non root user). Really nice!
encryptluks2 5y ago
What I'd like to see operating systems do is move to a simple YAML or similar format for creating install configs. I think cloud-init has something similar but always had issues.
- otterz 5y ago
  GNU Guix can do that. You can describe [1] the system in Guile Scheme and you can install a system or create a virtual machine image from that configuration. [1] - https://guix.gnu.org/en/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html https://guix.gnu.org/en/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Config...
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    This is very Nix like, and what I'm really asking for is a simple YAML markup file to define the OS, packages, devices, encryption, users, etc. Arch has something similar but it is a cluserfuck to be frank. Also, there are some edge cases that I'd like to see included like using a detached LUKS header.
    - snicker7 5y ago
      Check out some Guix package definitions. They are written in a declarative style. It looks closer to YAML than code.
debdut 5y ago
Oh god I’ve been looking for this so long! Pop OS my daily driver but I miss Pacman and Yaourt so much. APT is shit :/

78 points by pantalaimon 5y ago

Fabulous.. i had been toying with PoC-ing exactly this ("there is a pkgbuild for most of the random small projects i use, can't i just use that? I like my Debian/Ubuntu/Pop base system, but I hate checking for a new GitHub release all the time/using an appimage/flatpak/etc bundle/manually pulling and building master/etc")

eatonphil 5y ago

> Almost everything is shared between host OS and the JuNest sandbox (kernel, process subtree, network, mounting, etc) and only the root filesystem gets isolated (as the programs installed in JuNest need to reside elsewhere). And > Run on a different architecture from the host OS via QEMU How is it possible to share the process tree between a QEMU host and guest? Network and mounting filesystems yeah that sounds normal but sharing a process tree?

selfhoster11 5y ago
Presumably QEMU is available as a fallback when the guest binaries cannot run directly on the host CPU.
danhor 5y ago
If only the binary is emulated by QEMU and sharing the same Kernel, this should work fine. Similar to what Apple is doing with their x86-to-ARM tech.
phaer 5y ago
you are probably thinking about qemu system emulation, simulating a whole computer? There's also qemu user space emulation which would fit the quoted description: https://qemu.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/main.html https://qemu.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/main.html

benbristow 5y ago

For when you want to boast that you run Arch and take those screenfetch screenshots but you don't actually want to properly run Arch because you've got better things to be doing with your time.

peakaboo 5y ago
Yeah that hour installing Arch to get the best Linux distro on the planet...tough decision! I'm a long time Arch user and it's just the best system there is. Pacman with the Aur has literally everything in its latest version. When I need anything at all to be installed, it takes me 10 seconds to type a single command and then I have it. But sure, if you think the install is difficult despite the billions of user guides, Pop OS would be my second choice. It's really really stable and beautiful and fast.
- atweiden 5y ago
  Void [1] gives Arch a run for its money, particularly if you want musl-libc or non-systemd init. I’m a long-time user of both. Chimera [2] is also worth watching. [1]: https://voidlinux.org/ https://voidlinux.org/ [2]: https://chimera-linux.org/ https://chimera-linux.org/
  - pantalaimon 5y ago
    musl sounds like too much of a hassle. Too much stuff out there depends on glibc, if you don't know what software you are going to be running, that sounds like a world of pain.
    - Cloudef 5y ago
      I'm running void musl, but have glibc musl chroot for problematic apps or use flatpak for stuff like steam.
- benbristow 5y ago
  > if you think the install is difficult despite the billions of user guides I've installed Arch from scratch many a time. It's not the setup, it's keeping it working that's the interesting bit.

throwamon 5y ago

Has anyone here tried to run this in NixOS?

spindle 5y ago
It's not in nixpkgs, so I guess nobody's made a derivation for it. It would be nice.
- seniorivn 5y ago
  adding a package to nixpkgs is much more hussle than writing an experimental derivation for an interesting package

zmix 5y ago

Finally I can use Arc, btw.!

artemonster 5y ago

This saved me once to enable me to install my own updated tools on an outdated centos (as non root user). Really nice!

encryptluks2 5y ago

What I'd like to see operating systems do is move to a simple YAML or similar format for creating install configs. I think cloud-init has something similar but always had issues.

otterz 5y ago
GNU Guix can do that. You can describe [1] the system in Guile Scheme and you can install a system or create a virtual machine image from that configuration. [1] - https://guix.gnu.org/en/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html https://guix.gnu.org/en/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Config...
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  This is very Nix like, and what I'm really asking for is a simple YAML markup file to define the OS, packages, devices, encryption, users, etc. Arch has something similar but it is a cluserfuck to be frank. Also, there are some edge cases that I'd like to see included like using a detached LUKS header.
  - snicker7 5y ago
    Check out some Guix package definitions. They are written in a declarative style. It looks closer to YAML than code.

debdut 5y ago

Oh god I’ve been looking for this so long! Pop OS my daily driver but I miss Pacman and Yaourt so much. APT is shit :/