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?
That is an interesting problem… Here are two ideas :
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 :
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!
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:
Install and launch Xnest, as above.
Install openbox - or other window manager - using your favourite package manager.
Launch openbox, before firefox: DISPLAY=:23 openbox
or launch both together, giving firefox as startup command : DISPLAY=:23 openbox --startup firefox