#1134869 kiwix-desktop: Fails to start due to QtWebEngine sandbox (needs QTWEBENGINE_DISABLE_SANDBOX=1)

Package:
kiwix
Source:
kiwix
Description:
offline Wikipedia reader
Submitter:
popkc
Date:
2026-05-07 10:31:03 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1134869#5
Date:
2026-04-25 09:35:08 UTC
From:
To:
Dear Maintainer,


Debian stable disables unprivileged user namespaces by default.

QtWebEngine sandbox requires user namespaces, making official
kiwix-desktop unusable out of the box.

The only working workaround: export QTWEBENGINE_DISABLE_SANDBOX=1

Please fix this in Debian packaging: Either set this env var in the
official .desktop file, or add a sandbox patch like chromium.

Debian's chromium-browser has sandbox downgrade patches, but
kiwix-desktop is shipped raw without adaptation, resulting in broken
software for default installations.
#1134869#10
Date:
2026-05-07 10:30:14 UTC
From:
To:
The presupposition that user namespaces are disabled by default is false.
So this is certainly not a grave bug.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:35:08 +0800 popkc <popkc@live.cn> wrote:

 > Debian stable disables unprivileged user namespaces by default.