One of the most user-friendly Linux distros I've ever used is also one of the most secure

Linux distros I've ever used is also one of the most secure">

There are several reasons why you should consider an immutable Linux distribution. For one, immutability makes Linux incredibly secure because it mounts several key directories as read-only. By doing this, those directories cannot be altered, so they're far more secure.

Although that sounds like a recipe for complexity, you might be surprised to know that such distributions can be just as user-friendly as immutable ones. You can still install and use any app you need (thanks to Flatpak), and those apps work exactly as expected. Performance is not hampered, and stability is as solid as ever.

Case in point: Aurora is a new immutable Linux distribution based on Fedora Silverblue using the KDE Plasma desktop. But wait, doesn't that sound like Fedora Kinoite? For those who don't know, Fedora Kinoite is the KDE Plasma take on Fedora Silverblue, so it's easy to mistake the two.

However, Aurora is not Kinoite, and it sets itself apart in a few important ways. First off, Aurora ships with the necessary GPU drivers for all graphics cards and CPUs, including GPUs from Nvidia and AMD. That expanded hardware support also extends to game controllers and printer drivers, so chances are good that your hardware will work with this distribution.

Then, there's the unified app store, Bazaar, where developers can easily publish their apps and users can download and install them. From within Bazaar, you can enable/disable things like free software only, Flathub results only, verified results only, and hide end-of-life apps. Aurora also ships with sensible defaults.

What does that mean? Out of the box, Aurora is all about immediate ease-of-use, as well as entertainment and productivity. Unlike some Linux distributions, the sensible defaults mean you don't have to worry about changing or customizing anything before those things can be achieved.

Although you might have to install some software (such as LibreOffice, Steam, Slack, or Spotify), the out-of-the-box experience is as easy as it gets. At the same time, Aurora does hold some similarities to Kinoite, in that it is immutable and updates are done atomically, which means that if an update should fail, it is immediately rolled back, so you don't have to worry about your machine ever failing because of an upgrade. With a set of carefully selected applications and chosen defaults, Aurora is built for daily usage and is easy, fun, and productive.

It takes care of you and works alongside you. Outside of the automatic GPU driver installation and the sensible defaults, I find Aurora to be an ideal immutable distribution for new Linux users because it uses KDE Plasma as its desktop environment, and although there are plenty of aspects that would appeal to developers (such as the inclusion of Distrobox), it's very much an end-user operating system. Probably the best thing about Aurora Linux is that it is a set-it-and-forget-it distribution, which means you'll install the OS and simply start using it.