Google News sent me a link to an article which lists 10 apps that are recommended to be added to a Linux desktop. Normally I ignored those spam mails but this list appears to be interesting:
#1 — Google Chrome
#2 — GNOME Disks
#3 — VLC
#4 — GIMP
#5 — Software managers
#6 — Web-based office suites
#7 — Timeshift
#8 — Terminal
#9 — Windows virtualization software
#10 — Transmission
Many many years ago, our city council was considering switching from Windows to Linux desktops to save cost. As strong a Linux desktop advocate as I have been, I vehemently voiced against it. Subsequently, the city council drastically scaled down their ambition and started only with a limited number of city employees, mainly city councilmen's assistants, by purchasing chromebooks for new hires.
This move turned out to be very successful & popular. Google Docs is all the Assistants (capital "A") need for creating documents and sharing edits on-line. A chromebook is cheaper, lighter, and with a battery life that lasts much longer than a typical Windows laptop.
An immutable Debian as discussed in this thread can be customized to run Google Docs. Plus, it can do many things that are not available in chromebooks. For example, it can be adapted to run Windows applications.
When time permits I will experiment adding Windows 11 vbox to the immutable Debian. The Windows VM will be externally attached to the Debian live iso to keep its size within a manageable limit (preferable < 3GB). If implemented smartly, the Windows guest can be operated as if it were also an immutable system, in addition to the Debian host being immutable.
The concept of the immutable Debian that I tried to espouse in this thread is fundamentally different from Fedora Silverblue or any other distro derivatives of similar intent. This is a pure Debian--with zero added complexity. The whole concept works like this: Instead of installing Debian on your computer, you--the live iso creator--simply (1) start one of the stock Debian live isos, (2) run it as if it were an installed Debian, with or without a dedicated persistence partition, then (3) merge the persistence to create your own iso. This is a necessary first iteration because the "official" Debian live iso totally sucks. Debian probably has the easiest--and the most reliable and transparent--infrastructure to create your own live iso. The whole thread is simply an attempt to exploit this advantage. The customized live iso usually needs to be further iterated. I have been using the same immutable Sid (Trixie) that has been iterated 4 times for more than three months now & I don't feel any need to further upgrade it. Most of us long-time Linux/Debian users are very security conscious and we are confident that our (installed) Debian system is rock solid, with all the recovery tools ready to be deployed whathaveyou. Still, it makes me feel much better knowing that I am running an immutable system, especially when I want to test new packages. For other end users, immutability provides an endearing incentive, but the determining factor is still the magic word "usabilty", i.e., whether the Linux/Debian desktops have all the necessary tools so that the general public will not feel stranded. Only after we have enough users to build a large user-experience database, then we can start exploring the possibility of moving Linux/Debian desktops to offices including those of municipal governments.