KDE Is Getting a Native Virtual Machine Manager Called 'Karton' (neowin.net)
- Reference: 0177663681
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/20/2223215/kde-is-getting-a-native-virtual-machine-manager-called-karton
- Source link: https://www.neowin.net/news/kde-is-finally-getting-a-native-virtual-machine-manager-called-karton/
> To feel right at home in KDE, Karton is being built with Qt Quick and Kirigami. It uses the libvirt API to handle virtual machines and could eventually work across different platforms. Right now, development is focused on getting the core parts in place. Lin is working on a new domain installer that ditches direct virt-install calls in favor of libosinfo, which helps detect OS images and generate the right libvirt XML for setting up virtual machines more precisely. He's still refining device configuration and working on broader hypervisor support. Another key part of the work is building a custom SPICE viewer using Qt Quick from scratch:
>
> If you're curious, here's the list of specific deliverables Lin [3]included in his GSoC proposal , though he notes the proposal itself is a bit outdated [...]. For those interested in the timeline, Lin's GSoC proposal says the official GSoC coding starts June 2, 2025. The goal is to have a working app ready by the midterm evaluation around July 14, 2025, with the final submission due September 1, 2025.
You can learn more [4]via KDE.org .
[1] https://www.neowin.net/news/kde-is-finally-getting-a-native-virtual-machine-manager-called-karton/
[2] https://invent.kde.org/sitter/karton/-/tree/master
[3] https://docs.google.com/document/d/13cVp2gISwdFwQyPr8tRzERKnerJkGQpMFffLZmmd9bQ/edit?tab=t.0
[4] https://blogs.kde.org/2025/05/18/gsoc-2025-project-intro-developing-karton-the-kde-virtual-machine-manager/
Old habbits (Score:2)
It really was starting to look a little better, but here comes the app-for-that idea-fairy that needs a Kasdf application developed because it either:
1) Wasn't made by us
2) Doesn't have a big enough K
It really is a good idea. Just wtf with the Ks.
And the article reads about GNOME and using boxes to spin up VMs....
No. Not everybody does that. There are already existing programs for that, and they work just fine. Stop with the ecosystem creating bullshit - this should always be a cross platform function no
Desperately Needed (Score:3)
What is desperately needed in this tool is the ability to create a network bridge in a couple mouse clicks using the primary network adapter. I've wanted to transition away from Virtual Box for years now, but bridge networking has held me back.
Virtual Box lets me create a bridge with a simple click on a single combo box. Done. KVM is WAY more complicated, and risks network destruction. The inability to easily create a network bridge is a deal breaker that keeps me (and therefore my clients) on Virtual Box.
Re: Desperately Needed (Score:2)
You could get a lot of refugees if you did that ... I have that same dependency on vbox.
Re: (Score:2)
Pretty sure bog standard virt-manager and libvirtd does that. I don't recall ever setting up the bridge manually.
Re: (Score:2)
I mean it's not single click but, [1]https://docs.redhat.com/en/doc... [redhat.com] it's not exactly dark magic assembly hacking either... The steps amount to "create a bridge, assign interfaces to it, turn it on."
True I suppose you can theoretically blow up your network connectivity, but counterpoint - if you're doing this sort of thing via a desktop environment, you're running it on your pc/laptop so it's not quite in the same league of "shit I have no way to remote into this box and no access to the datacenter" uh-o
[1] https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/configuring_and_managing_networking/configuring-a-network-bridge_configuring-and-managing-networking
The letter K (Score:1)
I find offensive.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's an impediment to new users.
If I go to Accessories, there's no Calculator. I need to read down to KCalc.
Imagine if MacOS had MCalculaor, MPages, MStickies or whatever. The iEverything is bad enough.
Or WNotepad etc on Windows.
It just doesn't make sense to me. As a development code name, of course, no limits.
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
That's because KDE is being developped by autistic nerds.
MacOS is not.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd be shocked if the MacOS team didn't have any autistic nerds.
Shocked, I say.
Re: The letter K (Score:3, Informative)
Right click the menu/launcher and choose configure. "Show applications as..." defaults to name only, but you can choose description only (ie "calculator") or description (app name) or app name (description) where the parentheses are a minor heading so little under the main displayed thing. Changing the main displayed item also sorts the menu alpha by that so calculator would be under C not K for kcalc.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry to the moderator who gave me "overrated" for posting the solution to the exact thing that was annoying him. In the future, I will not help. Noted.
Re: (Score:2)
I hit the super key, type in "calc" and it shows me several available calculators, including kcalc which happens to be the the first and highlighted choice, and even says under it "Scientific Calculator." I doubt any Windows user would have a problem with that.
The K stuff has never bothered me. I use a mix of Mate, Gnome, and KDE apps. I don't want to learn a new desktop paradigm, so Gnome is out. I used to use Mate, but wayland support was lacking. I now use KDE Plasma and have no real desire to go bac