Programs that REQUIRE a "normal" Linux desktop environment - how to use in Qubes?

There are programs out there that need a “normal” Linux desktop environment. For example Interactive Brokers TWS needs to show correctly positioned pop-up windows on top of the main window etc.

Currently I have a separate machine with a “normal” Linux just for these programs. Any way to get these to work under Qubes?

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That is an interesting problem… Here are two ideas :

  1. Have you tried running the browser in an HVM, with a full window for a virtualised video device ? That seems a bit heavyweight though, so maybe try number 2 first :
  2. If you really only need a full display, look for “xnest”, which allows to create an X server inside a window. It is a while since I used it, but it might do what you want.

Let us know if you succeed in fooling your broker!

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I didn’t try solution 1, but solution 2 appears to be working! Will try for a few days and keep posted! Example steps on Debian:

  • Install Xnest: sudo apt install xnest
  • Start it: Xnest -geometry 1800x1000 :23
  • Launch desired program: DISPLAY=:23 /home/user/Jts/tws

Only thing now missing was copy-paste. Example steps on Debian:

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Thank you for the update.
I didn’t know about xclipsync…

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Been using for days now, seems to work fine. Thanks!

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Amazingly, I found a need to use this today.

For reference, if anyone comes needing it, some software requires a window manager. In particular, firefox does not work properly on a bare Xnest server. It definitely requires a window manager (at least under fedora 40, where I have tried it.) Otherwise, the menus do not work correctly.

My solution to launch firefox:

  1. Install and launch Xnest, as above.
  2. Install openbox - or other window manager - using your favourite package manager.
  3. Launch openbox, before firefox: DISPLAY=:23 openbox
  4. or launch both together, giving firefox as startup command :
    DISPLAY=:23 openbox --startup firefox
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