Qubes OS is a free and open-source, security-oriented operating system for single-user desktop computing. Qubes OS leverages Xen-based virtualization to allow for the creation and management of isolated compartments called qubes. These qubes, which are implemented as virtual machines (VMs). This allows each component of the operating system to be isolated from other pieces, preenting compromises from spreading or information from leaking.
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Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
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Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Qubes OS
Average rating
8.8
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I became interested in Qubes due to an interest in VMs and the desire to understand what it it was like to use a hypervisor. For me I can read about things all day long but until I actually attempt it myself I don't learn as much.
When starting with Qubes, after an unmemorable installation, I had issues with frequent disconnects with my USB WiFi connection which made Qubes unusable. The WiFi worked fine on other distributions and after reading the Qubes forums and increasing the RAM allocations in the USB and NET qubes, there have been no more disconnects, yay!
I'm running Qubes on an older Lenovo with SSD, 16G of RAM, and an intel video card and using it as my personal PC for now.
I really like being able to spin up a VM with a distro I want to try, I've created an hvm qube called distro-test just for this purpose and have successfully installed a distro, wiped it and then tested the live medium without installing on several other distros. Currenlty I'm running a distro on the waiting list, CuerdOS. It's interesting to me that I can run xorg with qubes and wayland in a VM with no issues.
I have installed Remmina for RDP and use it to remote into my Windows PC to run Eve online, I know it's possible to run Windows in a Qube container but there are so many updates to the Eve launcher I'm concerned I would be continually troubleshooting instead of playing the game to take the time to set it up.
For a window manager I'm currently running xfce but was please there is an option to use i3 as well that I can switch to once I'm more familiar with the command line qubes commands. I've really come to like the Pantheon window manager lately and may look into implementing that at some point but really I can make xfce look nice enough for my purposes.
For me the inter qube networking is a little strange. Each qube has it's own /32 IP with a shared gateway. I can understand how this would totally isolate traffic though so it works for this application. Each qube has it's own firewall settings but there is also a general firewall qube as well so everything looks secure by default from the networking perspective,
Anyway thanks/props to the Qubes developers for this excellent OS. I expect I will be using it often in the future. :)
I tried Qubes as an experiment expecting an unusable experience, but I came out realizing just how user friendly it is once you're used to the security minded quirks (took 2 months, been using for 4 months now).
There is a GUI for most everything, VM management is a breeze. Disposable VMs are seamless. Updating is a single three click GUI. The core functionality worked right out of the box. Installing APT packages required no extra effort. The performance is surprising and the storage space is minimal. 7 VM's and only 47GB total disk space used.
I ran into 3 issues so far. If the installation media is plugged into windows it gets corrupted (had to create using Linux). My laptop keyboard internally is USB (fixed by modifying Grub to allow USB during boot). I failed to get GPU passthrough working (Gaming is possible, but requires a lot of work).
You will need to follow the wiki or forum post instructions to handle some situations, but if you can follow instruction, Qubes is less intimidating than "The world's most secure operating system" makes it out to be.
I am a non-technical user with experience in Windows, Ubuntu, Manjaro and GhostBSD. Having learned something about virtual machines with VirtualBox, and having heard about the security virtues of Qubes, I decided to give it a try. I read in the supporting documentation that it really cannot run in a virtual machine environment. I tried that nevertheless and it would not install, but of course this was not unexpected. I considered a complete install on a separate laptop, or installation into a partition but rejected both, mainly because I know I don't have enough experience to rescue a laptop from an installation disaster in those two scenarios. This left me with an installation on a live USB disk, which succeeded my first try. However, neither the installation directions nor (as far as I could find) the community comments warned about or explained the issues with allocating sufficient space for the vm-pool - a most critical issue. Once I was installed, with no apparent opportunity to allocate space, I discovered that I did not have enough space allocated to the vm-pool to even run one qube. I still had a chance to test-drive the desktop environment and learn more about how the OS works, but still at this time I don't know how to solve the vm-pool problem with a USB drive (mine has plenty of space). Putting my hands on the system, I find it elegant, and -- once I understood the basic design -- attractive. I am intrigued with the possibility of running different OS's in different qubes, but have since learned that it may not be possible to install ones I need, such as Windows, and am not sure whether it will work with Ubuntu or Manjaro or GhostBSD, which I like. In researching my installation issues, I discovered many limitations when trying to install it on just any laptop. I have decided to explore it later, either if I have an expendable laptop (not likely), or when I need a new laptop and can purchase one with Qubes OS installed out of the box. Even so, I remain nervous about facing hardware compatibility issues in the future with upgrades to the system. This will cause me to watch sources like DistroWatch to get more comfortable with those aspects. Bottom line, I love the idea, but I'm not sure my limited needs for virtual machines will be worth the effort it will require of me. Stay tuned.