Other Desktop Environments
Current Situation[edit]
The Downloadable Whonix ™ versions are available with either:
However, other desktop environments like GNOME, KDE, LXDE and so on can be manually installed.
Risks[edit]
When installing your own desktop environment such as GNOME, you're on your own. If you are going that path, start with Whonix ™ CLI, the text terminal only version of Whonix ™, which comes without a desktop environment installed by default, and install a desktop environment of your choice there. This is much better than starting with Whonix ™ Xfce and then uninstalling Xfce to install another desktop environment.
Other desktop environments install other background services. The Whonix ™ project hasn't researched the security/privacy implications of having these installed. For example, GNOME automatically installs GeoClue. (systemcheck
warns if that very package is installed, but still... Other desktop environments also ship a different selection of default applications that have not necessarily been checked for security/privacy. Installing your own desktop environment may result in installing software packages not well hardened or chosen based on security wise.
Future[edit]
Since Whonix ™ is an Open Source / Freedom Software project, Whonix ™ developers are hoping that other developers join the project and maintain other desktop environments. That someone could be you?