I comb through the web for a living and on paper QubesOS is the best OS for my needs. In particular I like the awesome interplay of templates & disposables, app qubes and the ability to determine different ways to access the net for every VM/qube. I don’t know any system that matches all these capabilities.
On general PC hardware QubesOS installs and works out of the box for me. Even with rather modern components and (AMD) GPUs. There have been times when an update for dom0 or sys-usb have crashed the system (or parts of it) but in general QubesOS works most of the time as expected.
Still, I frequently have to work with off-the-shelf laptops that I have no influence in choosing. The latest example is a Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 13 (see here), which does have new Intel hardware and a HiDPI-screen - both are not really well supported in QubesOS. Occasionally, on the other end of spectrum, the laptops have too little RAM or the CPU is not beefy enough. For these times and in the name of more reliable operations, I am looking for an alternative solution that matches at least some of the capabilities QubesOS has. In particular I would like to recreate “disposables” that are continuously updated (aka via “templates”).
but I should note that Qubes OS runs on Xen, which is a type-1 hypervisor.
As for other alternatives, most (if not all) of them operate using a container-based system, such as Docker. Container systems are generally classified as “Type 2” (or “Type 1.5”); theoretically, they are less secure than “Type 1” systems due to their larger attack surface, and consequently, they are considered potentially less secure.
Redox OSTM is a complete Unix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, with a focus on security, reliability and safety. Offering source compatibility and a full set of programs, Redox is intended to be a complete alternative to Linux and BSD, in the cloud and on the desktop.Redox OSTM is a complete Unix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, with a focus on security, reliability and safety. Offering source compatibility and a full set of programs, Redox is intended to be a complete alternative to Linux and BSD, in the cloud and on the desktop.
Redox OS sounds like a very interesting OS (I’ve been following the development of the Cosmic DE for a while now). Still, I would prefer more supported hardware, not less .
The best approach is to create a template for any distro in KVM and launch only VM overlays (like appVMs). The overlays will have a 0 gb size at startup and won’t write any data to the root filesystem
Thx. As far as I know, overlays are like appVMs (permanent writes) but not like disposables (a fresh & exact copy of the appVM every time opened), which is the feature I am after. Am I missing something here?
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