Tools that could Qubes more usable
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Micah Lee
Dec 2, 2016, 2:21:36 PM12/2/16
to qubes...@googlegroups.com
I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
here [1].
I also find that I forget to increase the size of my appvms' private
image, and instead just run out of disk space. And occasionally, when
I'm doing something that writes a lot of data to /tmp, I fill that up too.
I'd love to see a service running in all appvms that monitors disk space
usage. If you're running low, or run out, of space in /rw, it pops up a
window asking if you'd like to increase the size of your private
storage. If you say yes, it launches a simple tool in dom0 that lets you
specify how many GB you want to make it, and maybe how free much space
you have available. (There have been several times where it wasn't
immediately clear that the reason everything broke is because I ran out
of disk space, and I had to spend time troubleshooting to figure this
out. I think less experienced users might just think it's broken and
give up.) And likewise, if you run low or out of disk space in /tmp, it
should pop up a window and let you remount your tmpfs with more disk
space, without having to lookup the commands to do it.
There are probably several other small tools like this that could
increase the usability of Qubes, too. These are the ones that come to
mind for me. While I'd love to work on developing these tools myself,
but I really don't have time in the near future -- maybe at some point
though :). I thought I'd through the idea out there and see what others
think.
[1]
https://micahflee.com/2016/06/qubes-tip-opening-links-in-your-preferred-appvm/
default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
here [1].
I also find that I forget to increase the size of my appvms' private
image, and instead just run out of disk space. And occasionally, when
I'm doing something that writes a lot of data to /tmp, I fill that up too.
I'd love to see a service running in all appvms that monitors disk space
usage. If you're running low, or run out, of space in /rw, it pops up a
window asking if you'd like to increase the size of your private
storage. If you say yes, it launches a simple tool in dom0 that lets you
specify how many GB you want to make it, and maybe how free much space
you have available. (There have been several times where it wasn't
immediately clear that the reason everything broke is because I ran out
of disk space, and I had to spend time troubleshooting to figure this
out. I think less experienced users might just think it's broken and
give up.) And likewise, if you run low or out of disk space in /tmp, it
should pop up a window and let you remount your tmpfs with more disk
space, without having to lookup the commands to do it.
There are probably several other small tools like this that could
increase the usability of Qubes, too. These are the ones that come to
mind for me. While I'd love to work on developing these tools myself,
but I really don't have time in the near future -- maybe at some point
though :). I thought I'd through the idea out there and see what others
think.
[1]
https://micahflee.com/2016/06/qubes-tip-opening-links-in-your-preferred-appvm/
Kopimi Security
Dec 2, 2016, 3:28:12 PM12/2/16
to qubes-devel, mi...@micahflee.com
Those are some very good ideas.
Along the same line, I feel that handling lots of different qubes can quickly become confusing - where are my downloaded files now, where are my documents, and passwords, and bookmarks stored?
Writing some script for copying all of these things into a "backup-qube" would be a great help - that way, at least the user can rest assured that none of the information is lost.
I'm envisioning a scenario here where one devotes a qube to dive deeply into some research, and wants to gather all the associated information for that activity, into its own archive, and have it automatically backed up on every shutdown of the qube.
Chris Laprise
Dec 2, 2016, 5:29:56 PM12/2/16
to Micah Lee, qubes...@googlegroups.com
On 12/02/2016 02:21 PM, Micah Lee wrote:
> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
> lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
> choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
> installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
> in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
> here [1].
Gnome and KDE have control panels that can change default applications
> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
> lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
> choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
> installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
> in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
> here [1].
for various file types (the Gnome one is under the section 'Details',
while the KDE one is more comprehensive). Also, nautilus file browser
will change defaults when you use 'Open With Application -> View All
Applications', though I'm not sure if this affects all apps or just
nautilus.
I do agree it should be easier to at least find these controls. The fact
that the Debian semi-minimal template comes with horrendous defaults
(nearly all of them) makes the shortcoming painfully obvious.
> I also find that I forget to increase the size of my appvms' private
> image, and instead just run out of disk space. And occasionally, when
> I'm doing something that writes a lot of data to /tmp, I fill that up too.
>
> I'd love to see a service running in all appvms that monitors disk space
> usage. If you're running low, or run out, of space in /rw, it pops up a
> window asking if you'd like to increase the size of your private
> storage. If you say yes, it launches a simple tool in dom0 that lets you
> specify how many GB you want to make it, and maybe how free much space
> you have available. (There have been several times where it wasn't
> immediately clear that the reason everything broke is because I ran out
> of disk space, and I had to spend time troubleshooting to figure this
> out. I think less experienced users might just think it's broken and
> give up.) And likewise, if you run low or out of disk space in /tmp, it
> should pop up a window and let you remount your tmpfs with more disk
> space, without having to lookup the commands to do it.
warning indicator as a disk image approaches its maximum.
What we could also use is a quick summary of VM-allocated space vs total
space available (though a simple disk space widget on dom0 desktop does
help in this regard).
Chris
Micah Lee
Dec 2, 2016, 6:58:45 PM12/2/16
to qubes...@googlegroups.com
On 12/02/2016 02:29 PM, Chris Laprise wrote:
> Gnome and KDE have control panels that can change default applications
> for various file types (the Gnome one is under the section 'Details',
> while the KDE one is more comprehensive). Also, nautilus file browser
> will change defaults when you use 'Open With Application -> View All
> Applications', though I'm not sure if this affects all apps or just
> nautilus.
Yup, but these control panels have no concept of qvm-open-in-vm (which
> Gnome and KDE have control panels that can change default applications
> for various file types (the Gnome one is under the section 'Details',
> while the KDE one is more comprehensive). Also, nautilus file browser
> will change defaults when you use 'Open With Application -> View All
> Applications', though I'm not sure if this affects all apps or just
> nautilus.
requires a specific VM name argument) and qvm-open-in-dvm. The only way
to make it so, for example, clicking links in your `work-vault` appvm
defaults to opening them in your `work-browser` appvm is by doing some
hacking stuff in a terminal yourself -- hence, not very usable, and why
I think a Qubes-specific tool would be useful.
> It shouldn't be hard to have the successor to Qubes Manager show a
> warning indicator as a disk image approaches its maximum.
service in each appvm. I haven't seen the new Qubes Manager yet, I'm
excited to see what it looks like.
Andrew David Wong
Dec 3, 2016, 4:09:42 AM12/3/16
to Chris Laprise, Micah Lee, qubes...@googlegroups.com
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On 2016-12-02 14:29, Chris Laprise wrote:
> On 12/02/2016 02:21 PM, Micah Lee wrote:
>> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
>> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
>> lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
>> choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
>> installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
>> in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
>> here [1].
>
Tracking: https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2476
>> I also find that I forget to increase the size of my appvms' private
>> image, and instead just run out of disk space. And occasionally, when
>> I'm doing something that writes a lot of data to /tmp, I fill that up too.
>>
>> I'd love to see a service running in all appvms that monitors disk space
>> usage. If you're running low, or run out, of space in /rw, it pops up a
>> window asking if you'd like to increase the size of your private
>> storage. If you say yes, it launches a simple tool in dom0 that lets you
>> specify how many GB you want to make it, and maybe how free much space
>> you have available. (There have been several times where it wasn't
>> immediately clear that the reason everything broke is because I ran out
>> of disk space, and I had to spend time troubleshooting to figure this
>> out. I think less experienced users might just think it's broken and
>> give up.) And likewise, if you run low or out of disk space in /tmp, it
>> should pop up a window and let you remount your tmpfs with more disk
>> space, without having to lookup the commands to do it.
>
> It shouldn't be hard to have the successor to Qubes Manager show a warning indicator as a disk image approaches its maximum.
>
> What we could also use is a quick summary of VM-allocated space vs total space available (though a simple disk space widget on dom0 desktop does help in this regard).
>
Added as comment: https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2132#issuecomment-264627448
Nice ideas!
- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org
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On 2016-12-02 14:29, Chris Laprise wrote:
> On 12/02/2016 02:21 PM, Micah Lee wrote:
>> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
>> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
>> lets you customize the qube you're in. Specifically, it should let you
>> choose default applications for each MIME type, with a choice between an
>> installed application in the appvm, opening in another appvm, or opening
>> in a dispvm. This would be a more generic way of doing what I described
>> here [1].
>
>> I also find that I forget to increase the size of my appvms' private
>> image, and instead just run out of disk space. And occasionally, when
>> I'm doing something that writes a lot of data to /tmp, I fill that up too.
>>
>> I'd love to see a service running in all appvms that monitors disk space
>> usage. If you're running low, or run out, of space in /rw, it pops up a
>> window asking if you'd like to increase the size of your private
>> storage. If you say yes, it launches a simple tool in dom0 that lets you
>> specify how many GB you want to make it, and maybe how free much space
>> you have available. (There have been several times where it wasn't
>> immediately clear that the reason everything broke is because I ran out
>> of disk space, and I had to spend time troubleshooting to figure this
>> out. I think less experienced users might just think it's broken and
>> give up.) And likewise, if you run low or out of disk space in /tmp, it
>> should pop up a window and let you remount your tmpfs with more disk
>> space, without having to lookup the commands to do it.
>
> It shouldn't be hard to have the successor to Qubes Manager show a warning indicator as a disk image approaches its maximum.
>
> What we could also use is a quick summary of VM-allocated space vs total space available (though a simple disk space widget on dom0 desktop does help in this regard).
>
Nice ideas!
- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org
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Andrew David Wong
Dec 3, 2016, 4:14:25 AM12/3/16
to Kopimi Security, qubes-devel, mi...@micahflee.com
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On 2016-12-02 12:28, Kopimi Security wrote:
> On Friday, December 2, 2016 at 8:21:36 PM UTC+1, Micah Lee wrote:
>>
>> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
>> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
>> lets you customize the qube you're in.
>> <https://micahflee.com/2016/06/qubes-tip-opening-links-in-your-preferred-appvm/>
> On Friday, December 2, 2016 at 8:21:36 PM UTC+1, Micah Lee wrote:
>>
>> I think it would be great if there were a piece of software installed by
>> default in all templates, and in the applications menu by default, that
>> lets you customize the qube you're in.
>>
>
> Those are some very good ideas.
> Along the same line, I feel that handling lots of different qubes can
> quickly become confusing - where are my downloaded files now, where are my
> documents, and passwords, and bookmarks stored?
This is probably a sign that you have too many VMs (i.e., your decomposition is too
>
> Those are some very good ideas.
> Along the same line, I feel that handling lots of different qubes can
> quickly become confusing - where are my downloaded files now, where are my
> documents, and passwords, and bookmarks stored?
fine-grained). Or you may just need to become more accustomed to your VM topology.
> Writing some script for copying all of these things into a "backup-qube"
> would be a great help - that way, at least the user can rest assured that
> none of the information is lost.
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/backup-restore/
> I'm envisioning a scenario here where one devotes a qube to dive deeply
> into some research, and wants to gather all the associated information for
> that activity, into its own archive, and have it automatically backed up on
> every shutdown of the qube.
>
the single "research" qube, or whether all files are being downloaded/created in
the single research qube to begin with.
Keep in mind that if you're consolidating a lot of files from different qubes
into a single one, this might be a sign that they shouldn't be separate qubes
in the first place.
In any case, you can already do this, either with tools inside the qube or
with the built-in Qubes backup tool.
- --
Andrew David Wong (Axon)
Community Manager, Qubes OS
https://www.qubes-os.org
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