What I want to see in QubesOS is working, out-of-the-box solutions for things already implemented, and a fast implementation of whatever gets it comparable in function to a normal desktop. It’s a big ask, and in no way a criticism of the current efforts, but I’m finding the daily/weekly/monthly/etc. management burden to be somehow constantly growing for me, and I want Qubes to Just Work™. As @unman has stated before on here, IIRC more than once, what will draw people in and make people happy is for the technical bits to be transparent to the user. I wholeheartedly agree.
A specific, nonexhaustive list:
- sys-gui by default
- sys-audio by default (with BT, security considerations withstanding)
- LogVM by default or easily enabled
- Update Cacher by default (or easily enabled)
- ManagementVM (i.e. Salt and/or Ansible) by default or easily enabled
- Less dependence on high-level applications for core functionality
- The ability to easily use your own DE, hopefully simplified by intro of sys-gui
I'm specifically thinking about the choice of DE and NetworkManager.
People should be able to customize their desktop without usability issues, to a reasonable degree, and I feel, but don’t know, that using NetworkManager should be optional and that the Qubes part should work with the underlying tools. Full disclosure: I hate NetworkManager because I find the UI to be frustratingly clunky. It doesn’t ever Just Work™ for me because I spend an hour clicking through GUIs just to change a setting. Also, systemd. I haven’t really gotten into the debate of whether or not it’s better (and this isn’t the place), but I want non-systemd templates, and I don’t want major differences in how they function. This may be impossible though; I don’t know how Qubes currently does it and how portable it could be made.
- Virtual FIDO/U2F: This is just a feature that feels missing. A ‘why not?’ Not part of my main requests, but a noteworthy feature request
- Working split-browser that looks like a normal browser (runs the dvm in the background somehow)
- Not completely abandoning the idea if intra-VM hardening, and not compromising it by default (passwordless sudo). A sane but seamless admin; Kicksecure seems to have a good idea, pending execution.
- Better theming. This is a small thing in the grand scheme, but I use my laptop a lot, and I notice a large difference when it’s nice to look at and not. It ends up being a big quality-of-life thing. I’m specifically thinking unified themes between all qubes (except anon qubes, which would need to be an exception somehow)
- BACKUPS. @unman said this one best, but I don’t remember where. I’ll try to find it soon, but the gist is that it needs to have a lot more features supporting things like finding and restoring individual files.
- Some way of dealing with systray applets in a prettier way. IMO, it’s very ugly ATM. I’d like to see RPC backends for audio, networking, and VPN so that those can be handled as other than an applet if user desires and can find or code the rest. Ideally this would be different by default, but I admit this may be a petty concern. However, a big issue for me is that clicking on them gives them focus, and they don’t give it back when I move my mouse. I have to open and close a dom0 window manually every time. (Full disclosure: I use AwesomeWM.)
- Disposables based directly on a template
- Don’t abandon power users if you (hopefully) start targeting regular users more. I hope to see transparent solutions that are easy to unveil for those who want to do customize things.
- Minimal templates should be minimal, closer to @arkenoi’s liteqube that what they are. I know there is a desire to conserve the template’s roots, but IIRC cups was installed on Debian. Is cups inalienably Debian? That’s a nitpick to illustrate, but IMO the package manager and init system is pretty much the distro; you can install anything else you want yourself. Personally, I think the only things there should be is what’s necessary for the smooth function of the package manager and salt, because then you can install whatever else you specifically want. But I digress.
- Currenty I don’t know how to explain it well, but the Qubes tools feel slow and buggy. For instance, if I boot a couple VMs at once, everything Qubes-related (manager, domains widget, etc.) freezes until they boot. Same when cloning. I understand if there’s something that should be blocked specifically, but if this is on purpose please change it. Prime example
- dom0 rollback (just choose second latest option in BIOS to roll back last change)
In summary, I want the system to be rounded out, simplified for the end-user while still being admin, poweruser, and hacker friendly (compatible with some customization and still Just Work™). But I’m happy with where it is in the sense that I think the Qubes team is doing a good job with the resources they have. I just hope some of this stuff happens soon for the sake of my sanity, as I’m having trouble managing what I need to work. Full disclosure: I may just be a terrible power user and my own modifications may be what’s causing a majority of my trouble. Sadly, I need most of them.