After 14 years as a Windows user, I switched to the Linux ecosystem about a month ago and tried several distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, its derivatives, and OpenSUSE. During this process, I found Fedora to be the best fit for my needs, especially because of its native Secure Boot integration, NVIDIA driver support, active community, and development environment.
I chose the Atomic edition because of its rollback capabilities, Flatpak, and Distrobox. However, Silverblue includes components I do not intend to use, such as Firefox, and relying heavily on rpm-ostree adds extra layers to the system and creates new deployments, making the process less practical. Because of this, I prefer to keep the system as close as possible to the original image.
While researching automation, I came across BlueBuild, a framework that uses UBlue images to create new rebases or even custom images. However, I found the documentation quite confusing, especially regarding its usage, and I got the impression that you do not have as much control over the system. That was when I discovered Fedora bootc. Has anyone here used it?
This seems to be the closest match to what I am looking for. bootc offers a Standard image that provides only the essentials, allowing me to add the rest according to my needs without relying on rpm-ostree. This means I can add Flatpak, Distrobox, GNOME Minimal, and other components as needed. I can also create my own ISO using Kickstart.
Thank you, Fedora team! :)
I still don’t fully understand the difference between standard and minimal-plus. From what I understand, standard is a generic, public image with a more stable interface, while minimal-plus is an internal composition used by Fedora, whose contents, name, location, or build process may change between releases because it is not provided as a public base with a stable contract. Is that correct? Can I still use minimal-plus, or do you recommend using standard instead?
What advice would you give to someone creating their own custom image?