Domicile Brings Web-Based Desktop to Linux, Chromium Skeptics Be Warned

Mention Chromium in Linux communities and resistance surfaces quickly. The dominance of Google's rendering engine across the web troubles many users who actively work to exclude it from their machines. Yet Domicile, a freshly announced Rust-based Wayland compositor, takes an unconventional approach: it leverages a modified version of Chromium to render the entire desktop interface as a web page.

The system maintains native application execution while routing each Wayland window directly into Chromium's rendering pipeline, where it appears as a page element. This architecture permits native applications and web content to occupy the same visual space and respond to identical layout rules.

Domicile: Overview

Unlike conventional desktop environments such as GNOME or KDE Plasma, Domicile does not function as a complete, ready-made system. Instead, it delegates the taskbar, window management, and visual presentation to a shell—which itself consists of a web page that users must construct.

Both native windows and web pages coexist on this shell page, with CSS controlling their positioning. Tiling or floating window arrangements require only minimal stylesheet code. Shells can be swapped without terminating running applications because loading a fresh shell resets only the shell page's internal state. A single page can extend across multiple monitors, and shells are distributed as npm packages, ranging from complete desktop environments to individual components like bars or application launchers.

The underlying compositor manages the lock screen, system tray icons, alerts, and screen-sharing functionality, while the shell determines their appearance. The integrated browser supports Manifest V3 Chrome extensions, though some behave differently than their Chrome counterparts.

Wayland support is mandatory for applications. Electron, SDL, and Qt applications launch in Wayland mode automatically, but programs built exclusively for X11 cannot run. Notably, Domicile does not incorporate Xwayland, the compatibility layer that enables X11 applications on Wayland-based desktops.

The project operates under the MIT license, with Chromium modifications adhering to Chromium's own licensing terms. One significant detail: the project received assistance from AI during development.

Manganese, the element?

Not exactly. Manganese serves as the default shell bundled with Domicile, functioning as a fully operational tiling desktop environment immediately upon installation. Its keyboard shortcuts mirror those of Sway, centered on the Super key, offering ten workspaces alongside tabs, stacks, splits, floating windows, and a scratchpad feature.

Web pages open as windows, positioning themselves alongside native applications within the same layout system. Chrome Web Store extensions appear as buttons along the top bar.

The shell includes a Settings application, clipboard history functionality, a launcher, screenshot utility, notification system, and lock screen. Since each component exists as an independent package, individual elements can be added to the bar or the launcher can be replaced while preserving the remainder of the configuration.

Getting started

Installation packages are available for Fedora, openSUSE, Debian, Ubuntu, and Arch Linux. Arch users also have access to an AUR package. NixOS users and those running Nix on other distributions can utilize the project's flake configuration.

A single monolithic package includes Manganese, the login session component, the domicile command-line tool, and the React libraries that shells depend on. Following installation, users point a configuration file toward their chosen shell, then log out and select "Domicile" from the login screen.