On a completely different note, I might have cracked part of the difficulty of installing software in Qubes: (assuming it’s available on the repos, which is not the case of the previous discussion)
opened 03:54PM - 20 Apr 22 UTC
T: enhancement
C: core
C: templates
P: default
### The problem you're addressing (if any)
In qubes it's quite hard to install … software and the [graphical software centers don't work](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/6310)
### Proposed Solution (simple version)
An internet-connect disposable qube running Gnome's software center. When the user chooses the software to install, a prompt asks the user on which qube they want to install and then it communicates the package names to that qube. Then that qube proceeds to install it.
### Proposed Solution (complex version)
The workflow for the user would start by clicking a <kbd>install software</kbd> button on the qubes menu tab for a particular qube:
By knowing in advance which qube the user wants to install software on, this software installation qube could be created on-demand based on the template on which the qube to be updated is based. This way it would be running the same system and therefore all packages listed would be guaranteed to be compatible. This could be good for example in systems where there are different software stores: suppose in Fedora there is Software Center and in ubuntu there is the Ubuntu Store (no idea if that's the case).
Let's see an example:
1. **user clicks <kbd>install software</kbd>** on `personal` qube tab in the qubes menu
2. **starts `personal-software-center` qube** (created on demand and based on *Fedora* -- the same tempalte as `personal`
3. **starts patched *Software Center*** (*) application on `personal-software-installer` qube
4. **user chooses software** to install (e.g. vlc)
5. **`personal-software-installer` sends package names** via qrexec to `fedora-34` (the template of `personal`)
6. **`fedora-34` shows a prompt** with the package names it received for the user to confirm these are the packages it wants to install
(*)*patched software center*: (probably) a forked version that has been modified not to actually install software but rather sends the names of the packages to be installed to the app qube or template.
### The value to a user, and who that user might be
- [GUI for installing software](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/6310)
- More discoverable way to install software
But let’s discuss this one on its github issue page .
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