运行桌面应用

Libertine allows you to use standard desktop applications in Ubuntu Touch.

To display and launch applications you need the Desktop Apps Scope which is available in the Open Store. To install applications you need to use the commandline as described below.

管理容器

创建一个容器

The first step is to create a container where applications can be installed:

libertine-container-manager create -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER

You can add extra options such as:

  • -n name name is a more user friendly name of the container
  • -t type type can be either chroot or lxc. Default is chroot and is compatible with every device. If the kernel of your device supports it then lxc is suggested.

由于容器较大（几百 MB），所以可能需要一些时间创建它。

注解

The create command shown above cannot be run directly in the terminal app, due apparmor restrictions. You can run it from another device using either adb or ssh connection. Alternatively, you can run it from the terminal app using a loopback ssh connection running this command: ssh localhost.

列出容器

To list all containers created run:

libertine-container-manager list

销毁容器

libertine-container-manager destroy -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER

管理应用程序

Once a container is set up, you can list the installed applications:

libertine-container-manager list-apps

Install a package:

libertine-container-manager install-package -p PACKAGE-NAME

Remove a package:

libertine-container-manager remove-package -p PACKAGE-NAME

注解

If you have more than one container, then you can use the option -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER to specify for which container you want to perform an operation.

文件

Libertine applications do have access to these folders:

  • 文档
  • 音乐
  • 图片
  • 下载
  • 视频

Tips

位置

For every container you create there will be two directories created:

  • A root directory ~/.cache/libertine-container/CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER/rootfs/ and
  • a user directory ~/.local/share/libertine-container/user-data/CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER/

Shell access

There are 2 options for executing commands inside the container.

The first option is based on libertine-container-manager exec. It lets you run your commands as root. The drawback is that the container is not completely set up. So far we know that the folders mentioned above (Documents, Music, …) are not mounted i.e., the /home/phablet/ directory is empty. Likewise the directory referenced in TMPDIR is not available what may lead to problems with software that tries to create temporary files or directories. You may use this option e.g., for installing packages.

To execute a command you can use the following pattern:

libertine-container-manager exec -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER -c "COMMAND-LINE"

For example run:

libertine-container-manager exec -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER -c "apt-get --help"

To get a shell into your container as root run:

libertine-container-manager exec -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER -c "/bin/bash"

The second option is based on libertine-launch. It will execute your commands as user phablet in a completely set up container. So you may use this option to modify your files using installed packages.

To execute a command you can use the following pattern:

libertine-launch -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER COMMAND-LINE

For example run:

libertine-launch -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER ls -a

To get a shell as user phablet run:

DISPLAY= libertine-launch -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER /bin/bash

注解

When you launch bash in this way you will not get any specific feedback to confirm that you are now inside the container. You can check ls / to confirm for yourself that you are inside the container. The listing of ls / will be different inside and outside of the container.

Shortcuts

If you want, you can add aliases for command line tools. Add lines like the following ones to your ~/.bash_aliases:

alias git='libertine-launch -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER git'
alias screenfetch='libertine-launch -i CONTAINER-IDENTIFIER screenfetch'

背景

A display server coordinates input and output of an operating system. Most Linux distributions today use the X server. Ubuntu Touch does not use X, but a new display server called Mir. This means that standard X applications are not directly compatible with Ubuntu Touch. A compatibility layer called XMir resolves this. Libertine relies on XMir to display desktop applications.

Another challenge is that Ubuntu Touch system updates are released as OTA images. A consequence of this is that the root filesystem is read only. Libertine provides a container with a read-write filesystem to allow the installation of regular Linux desktop applications.