Other Desktop Environments
Current Situation[edit]
Downloadable Whonix versions are available with
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 and install the desktop environment there. This is much better than starting with Whonix XFCE and then uninstalling XFCE to install another desktop environment.
In theory (also tested a little bit), everything should work except Whonix's open-link-confirmation (asking for confirmation, if you want to open a link you click outside the browser in Tor Browser to avoid linking) and Tor Browser won't be the default browser by default. [1]
Other desktop environments install other background services. We haven't researched the privacy implications of having these installed. For example, Gnome automatically installs GeoClue. (Whonix prevents installation of that very package, but still...) And comes with a different collection of default applications that have not necessarily been checked for privacy. For example, Thunderbird/TorBirdy (as explained on the E-Mail page) is the only recommended mail client. Installing your own desktop environment may result in installing KMail, which is not recommended, since there is no TorBirdy-like extension for KMail.
Future[edit]
Since Whonix is an Open Source / Free Software project, Whonix developers are hoping that other developers join the project and maintain other desktop environments. That someone could be you?
See Also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ The tb-default-browser package has not been made to work / tested with Gnome yet.
No user support in comments. See Support.
Comments will be deleted after some time. Specifically after comments have been addressed in form of wiki enhancements. See Wiki Comments Policy.
Do you wonder why Whonix will always be free? Check out Why Whonix is Free Software.
This is a wiki. Want to improve this page? Help is welcome and volunteer contributions are happily considered! Read, understand and agree to Conditions for Contributions to Whonix, then Edit! Edits are held for moderation.
Copyright (C) 2012 - 2019 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP. Whonix is a trademark. Whonix is a licensee of the Open Invention Network. Unless otherwise noted, the content of this page is copyrighted and licensed under the same Freedom Software license as Whonix itself. (Why?)
By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms of Service, and E-Sign Consent. Whonix is provided by ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP. See Imprint.
Enable comment auto-refresher