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Definitely! Taken from here:

Ubuntu Core is a tiny, transactional version of Ubuntu for IoT devices and large container deployments. It runs a new breed of super-secure, remotely upgradeable Linux app packages known as snaps ‐ and it’s trusted by leading IoT players, from chipset vendors to device makers and system integrators.

Directions for installing it on the Joule are on the same site.

Indeed, Ubuntu Core is the same Ubuntu you know and love, but it's stripped down. As mentioned in the quote, it uses the snap packaging mechanism, which gets you automatic updates that are transactional (i.e. you can roll them back). Snaps bundle their dependencies, so a snap using ROS in most cases bundles the entire system into one snap. This is done using the snap build tool called snapcraft. There's a ROS example in the snapcraft documentation.