Bluefin-cli vs Brew on Host?

Bluefin and Aurora
1

Hello everyone!

I just downloaded the Bluefin-DX iso a couple of weeks ago (heard Jorge on Linux After Dark) to give it a try and I am really enjoying exploring what it can do out of the box. I’m a back end web developer/devops guy so thinking in terms of containers is pretty natural to me at this point. And I love that pretty much everything I need for my “virtual home lab” is already set up and ready to go.

I do have a question though. I’m a little uncertain as to the pros and cons of using the bluefin-cli versus using brew on the host. Which one “should” I be using? What is the actual difference between them? I assume my home directory will be mounted to the container in either case, so… what’s going on here?

Appreciate any guidance on this. I’m pretty new to ostree stuff but I would love to get to a point where I am able to contribute to the project in some way. Leaning towards rebasing/reinstalling to Aurora though for some Plasma goodness…

2

Which one “should” I be using?

This depends on your working style. If you spend most of your time in the bluefin-cli, then that’s where you want to use brew. If you prefer to work in the host terminal, then brew on the host is probably the better choice.

3

I think that’s what I’m a little confused about - what are the reasons someone might prefer bluefin-cli?

4

bluefin-cli has more bells and whistles out of the box than the host. I have used bluefin-cli for a while but then I created my own work-containers with the software that I need.

5

So, I’ve read up some on bluefin-cli and I see what you mean about bells and whistles.

But it does lead me to ask why have both bluefin-cli and brew on the host? Does brew on the host install things to a “hidden” user account or something like that since the host is immutable?

6

This has the backstory: