Fair point on the wording. The blog text was LLM assisted, but the decisions and the project are mine and I edited it heavily to match what I actually did and why.
I should have said “the reasoning behind the project” rather than “my reasoning.”
If it helps, I can add a short note to the blog saying it was AI assisted but curated and based on my actual experience running LinuxMate across multiple machines and distros. Now that the wording is clarified, I’d rather keep the thread about LinuxMate and practical feedback. 😄
True, and you’re 100% right that NixOS, MicroOS (Ignition), and AutoYaST can reproduce an install very cleanly.
LinuxMate isn’t trying to replace declarative provisioning though. It’s aimed at the everyday desktop distros and the “first hour after install” problem: getting your common apps onto multiple machines fast, in a way that’s shareable and distro agnostic.
For people already living in NixOS configs or MicroOS Ignition, you’re probably set. For everyone else (Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, mixed LAN machines), a simple app picker that outputs one batched script plus URL presets is a nice on ramp.
Also good note on Fuel Ignition. Quick safety tip for readers: Ignition uses passwordHash and it’s best to use SSH keys or generate the hash locally rather than typing a real password into any website.
Thanks! Spread the word 😉 👍