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Other Desktop Environments
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|description=How to use Other Desktop Environments other than Xfce with {{project_name_short}}. Current situation. Risks. Future. (Gnome, KDE, LXQt, MATE, ...)
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How to use Other Desktop Environments other than Xfce with {{project_name_short}}. Current situation. Risks. Future. (Gnome, KDE, LXQt, MATE, ...)
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= Current Situation =
As of version <code>17</code>, the [[Download]]able {{project_name_short}} versions are available with either:

* '''A)''' <u>[[VirtualBox#GUI|{{gui}}]]:</u> desktop environment ('''Xfce'''); <u>OR</u>
* '''B)''' <u>[[VirtualBox#CLI|{{cli}}]]:</u> text terminal only (no desktop environment).

([https://forums.whonix.org/t/port-to-wayland/17380 Version <code>18</code> might be released with a different desktop environment other than '''Xfce'''.])

However, other desktop environments like Gnome, KDE, LXQt, LXDE and so on can be manually installed.

= Risks =

* <u>Unsupported configuration:</u> When installing your own desktop environment such as GNOME, you're on your own. This is [[unsupported]].
* <u>Recommendation for advanced users:</u> Start with {{project_name_short}} CLI, the text terminal-only version of {{project_name_short}}, which comes without a desktop environment installed by default, and install a desktop environment of your choice there. This is much better than starting with {{project_name_short}} Xfce and then uninstalling Xfce to install another desktop environment.
* <u>Additional background services:</u> Other desktop environments install additional background services. The {{project_name_short}} project hasn't researched the security/privacy implications of having these installed. For example:
** GNOME automatically installs [https://web.archive.org/web/20160413150914/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoClue GeoClue]. ([[systemcheck]] warns if that very package is installed, but still...)
** See also [[Dev/GNOME#Security|Dev/GNOME wiki page, chapter Security]].
* <u>Unvetted default applications:</u> Other desktop environments also ship a different selection of default applications that have not necessarily been checked for security/privacy. Installing your own desktop environment may result in software packages being installed that are not well hardened or chosen with security in mind.
* <u>Live Mode limitation:</u> This is only applicable to users of [[Live_Mode|live mode]]. There is no live mode indicator systray for other desktop environments. Live vs [[Persistent Mode]] as well as issue notifications would be missed. This will change in the next version. No such issue in {{project_name_short}} 18 and above.
* <u>user-sysmaint-split integration issues:</u> This is only applicable to users of [[sysmaint|user-sysmaint-split]]. See also [[Sysmaint#Default_Installation_Status|user-sysmaint-split, Default Installation Status]]. It does not apply to users of [[unrestricted admin mode]]. Only the default desktop environment (or rather login managers) is tested with user-sysmaint-split by developers. Other desktop environments might have glitches. <ref>
* Such as when booting into a sysmaint session, a non-default login manager might suggest to login as account <code>user</code> rather than as account <code>sysmaint</code>.
* Or when booting into a user session, a non-default login manager might suggest to login as account <code>sysmaint</code> rather than as account <code>user</code>.
</ref>

= Future =
Since {{project_name_short}} is an Open Source / [https://forums.whonix.org/t/lets-call-it-freedom-software-rather-than-free-software-or-open-source/6961 Freedom Software] project, {{project_name_short}} developers are hoping that other developers join the project and maintain other desktop environments. That someone could be you?

= See Also =
* [[Debian Packages|{{project_name_short}} Debian Packages, which ones are safe to remove?]]

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[[Category:Documentation]]