this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024

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Privacy

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Searching for a Linux distro (lemmy.ml)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by Charger8232@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I first used Linux about 5 years ago (Ubuntu). Since then, I have tried quite a few distros:

Kali Linux (Use as a secondary)

Linux Mint (Used for a while)

Arch Linux (Could not install)

Tails (Use this often)

Qubes OS (Tried it twice, not ready yet)

Fedora (Current main)

For me, it has been incredibly difficult to find a properly privacy oriented Linux distro that also has ease of use. I really enjoy the GNOME desktop environment, and I am most familiar with Debian. My issue with Fedora is the lack of proper sandboxing, and it seems as though Qubes is the only one that really takes care in sandboxing apps.

Apologies if this is the wrong community for this question, I would be happy to move this post somewhere else. I've been anonymously viewing this community after the Rexodus, but this is my first time actually creating a post. Thank you!

UPDATE:

Thank you all so much for your feedback! The top recommended distro by far was SecureBlue, an atomic distro, so I will be trying that one. If that doesn't work, I may try other atomic distros such as Fedora Atomic or Fedora Silverblue (I may have made an error in my understanding of those two, please correct my if I did!). EndeavourOS was also highly recommended, so if I'm not a fan of atomic distros I will be using that. To @leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone, your suggestion for Linux Mint Debian Edition with GNOME sounds like a dream, so I may use it as a secondary for my laptop. Thank you all again for your help and support, and I hope this helps someone else too!

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[–] aion@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (6 children)

Fedora Silverblue uses flatpaks for most apps by default. The exception is Firefox because the codes haven't been sandboxed yet, but they are working on it. If you don't need to play videos in Firefox, there is a flatpak available.

I realize Firefox is probably the biggest thing that really should be sandboxed, its why I haven't switched to Silverblue yet.

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 0 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I recently switched to Mullvad Browser from Librewolf (both are Firefox based), do those still fall under the same conditions?

[–] Fisch@lemmy.ml 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

None of these fall under those conditions, idk where he got that info from. I've been using the LibreWolf Flatpak for months now and everything works just fine, including playing videos.

[–] aion@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

It's in the Silverblue FAQ: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-silverblue/faq/#_how_can_i_play_more_videos_in_firefox_like_youtube

Admittedly, it does say you can use the flathub version.

[–] Fisch@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago

That's exactly what I said tho. What he said was that the version from flathub was the one that couldn't play videos and that's why OP should install it with the package manager, which isn't true.

[–] moreeni@lemm.ee 0 points 7 months ago

Can't you containerise Firefox with something like AppArmor instead?

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[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 1 points 7 months ago

Found one you have, I would say, mmmm?

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I recently tried a bunch of distros. I've been using Linux since 2001 and I've been using Ubuntu mostly (or KDE, xfce, mate flavors). I, too, am concerned with privacy and am looking for something simple which allows me to pay PC games with steam.

I tried Endeavour OS, which is a slightly more user friendly, game oriented Arch distro with tools for installing gaming software and drivers, POP! OS which is an Ubuntu based gaming oriented distro as well with a Gnome desktop by default, and Elementary OS, based on Ubuntu, which has a kind of Gnome, MacOS looking interface, but not specifically for gaming.

All of them address the privacy issue by not including the telemetry packages.

The best out of the three in my opinion was Elementary OS. It's absolutely gorgeous, easy to use and allows you to focus on what you need to do without any hassle. You can install most of your apps through flatpaks if that's what you're looking for. And there are no snaps, but you have the option of installing it if you want.

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[–] kixik@lemmy.ml 0 points 7 months ago

If the distro supports apparmor, then firejail + apparmor offer together sandboxing for quite a set of applications (apparmor includes few profiles by itself, but firejal has quite a few, and one can enable apparmor on all, or the ones wnated). Arch has pretty good wikies about firejail + apparmor.

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