{"id":9030,"date":"2026-11-07T21:26:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T04:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=9030"},"modified":"2026-11-07T21:26:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T04:26:51","slug":"hate-chromium-well-theres-a-linux-desktop-based-on-it-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=9030","title":{"rendered":"Hate Chromium? Well, There\u2019s a Linux Desktop Based on it Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"domicile<\/figure>\n

Say the name “Chromium<\/em>” out loud in Linux circles, and you will soon see what a mob looks like. Many people don’t like how much of the web rests on one engine led by Google, and they prefer to keep it away from their systems.<\/p>\n

Now we have Domicile, a new Rust-based Wayland<\/a> compositor that uses a patched build of Chromium<\/a> to draw the entire desktop as a web page.<\/p>\n

Apps still run natively, and each Wayland window goes straight into Chromium’s rendering system and shows up inside that page as an element. A window and a website can then sit side by side and be arranged the same way.<\/p>\n

Domicile: Overview \u2b50<\/h2>\n
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Some Domicile mockups as shown on the homepage.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Domicile is not a drop-in desktop like GNOME or KDE Plasma<\/strong>. It leaves the bar, the window layout, and the look to a shell<\/a>, and that shell itself is a web page you have to write yourself.<\/p>\n

Native app windows and websites both sit on that page, and because CSS decides where each one goes, layouts like tiling or floating take only a few lines of styling.<\/p>\n

You can even swap the shell without closing a single window because loading a new one resets only the state held in the shell’s own page. A single page can span every monitor, and shells are built from packages that anyone can publish on npm<\/code>, whether it is a whole desktop, a bar, or a launcher.<\/p>\n

The compositor still handles the lock screen, tray icons, notifications, and screen sharing, while the shell decides how they look. The built-in browser runs Manifest V3 Chrome extensions<\/strong>, but some of them behave differently than they do in Chrome.<\/p>\n

Apps need Wayland support to run. Electron, SDL, and Qt apps start in Wayland mode, but X11-only ones will not run<\/strong>. Xwayland, the compatibility layer that lets X11 apps work on Wayland desktops, is something Domicile does not include.<\/p>\n

The project is provided under the MIT license<\/strong>, and the Chromium files it modifies stick to Chromium’s licenses. One more thing, and this could be a dealbreaker for some of you, the project is AI-assisted<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Manganese, the element?<\/h2>\n
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