Qubes in Qubes OS: Should we be calling VMs 'qubes'?

General Discussion
18

I think ‘qube’ as an umbrella term for units of compartmentalization (e.g. VMs, Qubes Air elements, etc.) is acceptable. However it will still have the same issues we started with–it’s easy to confuse ‘Qube’ with ‘Qubes’.

My main argument is we should move from ‘qube’ to something else, not necessarily ‘VM’, even though that was my most preferred candidate (if you look at the first version of my second post, you’ll see I said “I just want anything other than ‘qube’”).

You should also know that most people on the forum refer to a ‘qube’ as a ‘VM’. Here’s an unfiltered list of relevant thread titles from the last ten days, sorted by recently updated, at 00:00 GMT, 17 July:

  1. Audio VM with Intel Arrow Lake 15th gen

  2. What’s the best way to set default Firefox settings for AppVMs based on a TemplateVM?

  3. Unable to attach an external SSD to an AppVM

  4. AppVMs not restarting after update

  5. Proposal: Launching TemplateVMs/AppVMs from a Hidden Encrypted Volume on a Secondary Drive

  6. How to rename devices on (transient, DVM) sys-usb (included because ‘DVM’ still commonly used in system)

  7. Failed to parse rules for signal appVM

  8. Is there a way to Make an Automatically Closing Qube for Authenticator? (The first reference to ‘qube’, last updated 5 days ago)

  9. Qubes-QoS: prioritise VMs’ network traffic

  10. Android-x86 qube installation guide

  11. Screenshot inside VMs (minimal templates)

  12. Multiple, tailored, Mullvad VPN qubes from a single disposable template using vm-config

  13. High CPU usage in Windows VM

  14. Slow VM boot time

  15. Android runs fine in qubes, no mouse issue, But

The number of thread titles using ‘qube’ is 4/15, which is a low percentage (~25%).

Language is determined by actual, organic use; there’s a long way to go before ‘qube’ is considered mainstream.

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