Is it safe to rpm-ostree status anytime I want on the system? It won’t interfere with any ongoing updates or deployments?
Sometimes in a fresh install rpm-ostree status will take around a minute to display output (usually when there is an ongoing new deployment)
Is it okay for this to happen?
Yes, it is safe. I don’t know why it takes so much time in a fresh install. When it is updating it will show at the beginning of the output.
Definitely safe to run. it might take some time to show the information if an operation is in progress or if it’s a cold start but that is not a cause for concern.