this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Proxmox
I heard that Proxmox is great server solution but how about desktop?
Sounds like "minimal" just went out the door?
What? I'm looking for minimal setup but for desktop use (by this I mean machine which I'll be using as my workstation), not for a server. I don't think that Proxmox will be minimal option for this purpose when it have features which I don't need at all because the software on it is primarily designed for remotely controlled servers. For example I don't need WebUI function, instead I need simple desktop environment to manage my machines directly from a machine. Of course I can install desktop environment on it but why when it have completely different use case?
The short answer is any. KVM is built in to the kernel. You can run VMM (Virtual Machine Manager) for a simple, easy GUI, but you can also manually edit the VM files if that's your thing. You can air gap them by creating a bridge that doesn't bind to a nic.
Anything debian (which includes ubuntu based) just run
See: https://youtu.be/FNcImbM8ugg
The much longer answer is, it really depends on your needs for a daily driver, not for virtualization. Figure out what you need for a dd, then use that and install the tools.
Which isn't a "minimal" Linux installation. Which is fine - you don't actually need a "minimal" system. I'm not sure you even know why you want that. Just install any Linux distro and go to town. You can remove things if you like.
Proxmox has no desktop by default. You can install it, add a desktop environment, but it will be less hassle to just use Debian as the desktop and install proxmox on top of that.
Ultimately, it's all Linux or Unix. You can install qemu/KVM and libvirt on just about anything.
You can pretty much just pick your distribution and then add KVM on top of that, it will get you a long way before you need to use anything with more features.
A lot of people like to keep their hypervisor separate from their daily driver, but you can totally just fire up VMs and containers on your dd if that works for you.
Or, create a VM in Proxmox and pass the GPU, mouse and keyboard to it.
proxmox can be used on a desktop. if you don't like qubes, virt-manager or virtualbox on a regular distro could be up your alley too.
that is i understood correctly and you want to actually sit at it, just that it is running many guest oses instead of just your desktop?