Post: #26

(04-13-2017 12:53 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  I tried using Ubuntu for like 30 minutes and was like fuck this. There's a reason Windows is the most popular OS. Why can't Linux make their shit more user friendly?

And I sort of want to run a VPN, but part of me thinks it draws even more attention to yourself once you start hiding behind a VPN. I can't imagine what anyone could ever allege I've done, but I simply don't like the thought of my ISP and Google and Windows tracking my ass all over the internet.

Try to find a distro that uses KDE. I always liked it way more than Gnome (this is what ubuntu uses).

Post: #27

I am using Arch Linux for all my daily needs - the last time I touched Windows was 2 months ago when I forgot my laptop and my wife lended me hers.

Linux is like a virgin woman: We all know it is the best, but you need to take time at the first install to tweak it to your needs to ensure that it'll be the best. This means installing packages, dock applications, desktop environments, WMs for applications who don't work well in Wine, and all the little nooks & crannies that make it user friendly. With the possibility of configuring as many shortcuts as you want and the ability to customize your desktop as much as you want, there is no excuse to find Windows more user-friendly.

Now for the sad part: Arch requires a tutorial for the first-time install, but it is easier than we think. This is the tutorial that I've used:
http://www.brandonkester.com/tech/2014/0...-uefi.html

Ubuntu is somewhat "Linux for newbies". They aren't really privacy-oriented (some versions send your search queries to Amazon to offer you products), but are rather aimed at Linux beginners who want to dip their toes in this environment. Hardcode Linux users like me like to install everything from scratch. Arch Linux is actually "linux from scratch" with a package manager. It is a bare vanilla distro that allows you to customize it to the flavor you need and make it look like any other distro - most Linux distributions are built on top of Arch.

If you want real privacy, here's how it works.
1) Install Arch Linux with a desktop environment (KDE is the best IMO) with full disk encryption (as per the above tutorial, it needs to be done at install time)
2) Delete ~/.bash_history and make it a symbolic link to /dev/null
3) Disable Akonadi (KDE) or Zeitgeist (GNOME)
4) Install Firejail and run "sudo firecfg" to make all your apps run inside the Firejail sandbox
5) If using KDE, configure Klipper to limit history to 1 item (in System Settings)

If you want to be even more hardcore:
5) Configure a VPN in NetworkManager and make it connect at startup
6) Run your sensitive shit in a VM inside an encrypted LUKS / VeraCrypt / etc. volume
7) Have a script validate the checksum of the files in your /boot partition every time you open your encrypted volume (easy to code)
8) If your OCD kicks in, use Secure Boot, you'll need the PreLoader.efi file here:
https://blog.hansenpartnership.com/linux...-released/

So in short, I think Ubuntu is good for beginners, but when you become more advanced, you realize that Ubuntu kinda sucks. Real privacy advocates use Kali, Arch, or Tails (amnesic live OS). I personally use Arch because I can save all my documents on my persistent hard drive and do all of my daily tasks without any problem.

Windows sucks for many reasons:
1) It sends your position to Microsoft
2) If you forgot to disable the option, it sends your browsing history and typing data to Microsoft - which will take pleasure in sharing it with Big Brother
3) They send your unsaved office files to their servers for "easy recovery" - and sharing with the US government (Apple does that too)
4) It's almost impossible to do a task without leaving footprints like temp files, registry entries, etc. on the hard disk
5) Operating systems, like the web, should be open standards, not owned by a corporation

Post: #28

There's some serious lessons to be learned in this thread, particularly the last post.

Post: #29

(07-24-2017 12:27 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  There's some serious lessons to be learned in this thread, particularly the last post.

Rawmeo posted some Mossad/MI6 security-level phone stuff in another thread.

It's rather ironic how all the stuff he wrote goes out the window if you leave your computer turned on AND unencrypted when the party van crashes through your door.

Always leave your stuff locked (windows logo + L). If the party van comes....rush to your laptop and take off the battery. If it's a PC, unplug the power cord to the wall. Yank that bitch out even if you whip yourself by accident. It has to boot all over again.

Post: #30

Or install the worlds most powerful electromagnet under your desk with a quick two stage trigger.

Post: #31

(07-24-2017 12:44 AM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

(07-24-2017 12:27 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  There's some serious lessons to be learned in this thread, particularly the last post.

Rawmeo posted some Mossad/MI6 security-level phone stuff in another thread.

It's rather ironic how all the stuff he wrote goes out the window if you leave your computer turned on AND unencrypted when the party van crashes through your door.

Always leave your stuff locked (windows logo + L). If the party van comes....rush to your laptop and take off the battery. If it's a PC, unplug the power cord to the wall. Yank that bitch out even if you whip yourself by accident. It has to boot all over again.

The party van video leaked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXrXD1M6kXk

Post: #32

(04-13-2017 10:37 AM)Deepdiver Wrote:  Anyone have opinions about Kali Linux distro for cyber security penetration testing and ethical hacking???

It's good at it. That's my opinion.

Post: #33

These two resources really helped me get a good start on my digital OPSEC:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-...0397507528

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Privacy-...152277890X

Post: #34

(04-13-2017 12:11 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  Unless you know Linux inside and out, you're not granting yourself any extra privacy. At the worst end of the spectrum, you're exposing yourself to even more insecurities simply because you're not sure how to update certain things that aren't obvious.

Sage words.

It's not difficult to get a basic understanding though, and if you follow basic rules of discipline, you can become pretty much untouchable and impossible to trace. With caveats.

One guy in the UK ran a scam pretending to be a woman. He would approach dog walkers and home-sitters on gumtree (kind of like a UK craigslist iirc) and get them to 'model' for him on the promise of a few hundred quid. The stupid girls sent him nudes with their tits out (and he had not paid them) and he then used that to escalate to more degrading acts.

He was a professor and a bit of a whizz when it came to internet security. Hope y'all are getting the irony here?

Anyway, it was all pretty much dark net and no telephone calls. He drove some kids to the brink of suicide. He got life in prison.

He was hard to catch. He knew what he was doing. He was highly meticulous and highly intelligent. He also spent a LOT of time doing this. It was his hobby.

Like my 'hacker' buddies say: if you don't want to get caught, don't do it!

It's surprising what you can get away with if you don't push it and don't get cocky.

It's also surprising how vulnerable you are if you make a slight mistake, eh Sabo?

I rarely meet people who know as much as me about computers in real life. That isn't a brag. I don't know that many people. The ones I do meet don't work with computers that much. Even programmers I know who earn 30K per year for doing Visual Basic, they have no clue as to how a computer really works at the core level. As to how things can be 'reverse-engineered' - both ways. They are ignorant. And they are few. Most are just totally clueless. Honest, not a brag.

This is a brag:

But on the rare occasions I do meet people in real life who know a fuck-ton more about computers than I do (real hackers), well, there is always something I know about computers that they don't know.

And that is what fills me with the dread. That is why real 'hackers' are humble. That is why they don't usually break the law.

"If you don't want to get caught, don't do it!!"

Words to the wise.

Post: #35

(05-09-2018 04:37 PM)flanders Wrote:  

(04-13-2017 10:37 AM)Deepdiver Wrote:  Anyone have opinions about Kali Linux distro for cyber security penetration testing and ethical hacking???

It's good at it. That's my opinion.

Do you have an opinion on Knoppix at all, Ned?

What with Kali and Debian and Knoppix kind of being related.

Post: #36

Generally it's the OS that gives you the *choice* to make yourself as secure as private as you know how to. Windows and Mac hide most things from you, and it's very hard to do anything that Microsoft or Apple don't approve of.

If you do dumb things, no OS can save you. It's not your AI butler.

Regarding privacy, among the current OSes, it's the only one (I suppose you can do it on *BSD too but who wants to use that, it's annoyingly autistic) that lets me do this fairly easily without need for any third party expensive tool: "Run a secure browser over a VPN link inside a virtual network namespace separated from the rest of my computer"

That way, I can safely browse RVF without my ISP nor my employer's purple-haired brigade knowing, while everything else on my computer is still going over the normal network.

Post: #37

(05-04-2017 01:02 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(04-13-2017 12:53 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  I tried using Ubuntu for like 30 minutes and was like fuck this. There's a reason Windows is the most popular OS. Why can't Linux make their shit more user friendly?

And I sort of want to run a VPN, but part of me thinks it draws even more attention to yourself once you start hiding behind a VPN. I can't imagine what anyone could ever allege I've done, but I simply don't like the thought of my ISP and Google and Windows tracking my ass all over the internet.

Try to find a distro that uses KDE. I always liked it way more than Gnome (this is what ubuntu uses).

KDE is very windows like in many ways. It certainly is more than Gnome anyway. Especially after Gnome went bat shit crazy after version 2. Old hat. Been there. Old news.

But KDE is a very buggy interface. It's also very resource hungry to feed all that eye-candy. It's the best when it works well - better than windows, but it just isn't practical for a lot of purposes. Audio is not a good thing to run with KDE. Maybe they sorted out Pulse and all that now. Don't care.

There are better desktop environments for Linux if you want to be more windows like and efficient on the hardware. I know that you don't pretend to be a Linux guru Beast1 (as neither do I) but just sharing my hard won knowledge and time spent.

Desktop Environments are not to be confused with Window Managers. One runs at a higher abstraction layer to the other on the OS.

Anyway, KDE is a great desktop environment, when it works. Even distros that it is inherently built in to like Kubuntu (A bespoke KDE environment of Ubuntu) have problems when it extends out to audio drivers (see my comment on Pulse earlier).

So, KDE is all fine and dandy but not exactly resource friendly. What Desktop Environments might be then if I'm running Linux?

Well, the two most resource efficient Desktop Environments you can run are LXDE and XFCE.

LXDE is generally accepted to be lighter and more resource friendly than XFCE, but it depends on your hardware and your host OS.

I ran an install of XFCE that was many times lighter than the related LXDE Desktop environment. This might have been on Bodhi Linux or in fact I think it was a small CD distro of Debian.

There isn't much in it really. Both LXDE and XFCE are an order of magnitude more resource friendly compared to KDE or god forbid things like MATE or Cinnamon. I'm a massive Linux Mint fan. But I run either LXDE or XFCE when I use that distro.

And to get to the nut of the matter, both those DE's are very windows like. If you can use windows, you will be able to use LXDE or XFCE, more than you will be able to understand KDE or MATE or Cinnamon or god forbid the latest incarnation of Gnome.

There are many similarities between windows and linux. But a lot that is different. Using an interface that has similar UX aspects as well as similar UI aspects will lessen the divide.

KDE, Gnome, MATE, Cinnamon are all outside the paradigm of what most people expect from Windows. LXDE and XFCE whilst being lighter on the CPU are more in keeping of what most people expect. They don't look as flash, or as Mac like, but they get the job done, efficiently.

I've set up VPN's in KDE environments. It's doable. Hell, it's fun if you're a geek. But for most people?

If you want to play with Linux, get a LTS release of Mint and select either the XFCE or LXDE gui/interface. I think they still do both - I haven't checked.

I'm sure that someone that knows a whole lot more about this shit can put me right if I got something wrong. Linux world changes pretty fast. You get tired with dicking around. You'll ride your latest distro in to the ground till your wheels come off if you can. Of course you will know how to back up all your data and do images of both your System drive and Data drive. Say, using something like Terabyte, or whatever works for you.

Learn how to create a persistent /home partition. Then you can swap OS's like some sluts swap cum (maybe not the best analogy) and still maintain all your files and data on a separate partition that should be readable as long as you don't mess about with your 'file system' too much. EXT3 and all that. Forget now.

Linux users are assholes for the most part. Unless you are a girl, then young lady, let me introduce you to my supreme knowledge...

Wankers!

Stick with windows. It's easier.

It's hard to get help on forums, even if you have spent a lot of time researching and spend a lot of time posting your findings. Linux users are brutal cunts.




I've been chatting about doing a data sheet on using Virtual Machines for a while now. And this would be a great tool to tool about with different Linux distros. Seeing what the different desktop environments look like. It doesn't cost anything and is pretty easy to do as well with some basic computer knowledge.

I'll try and get that up at some point.

Post: #38

(05-09-2018 07:01 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  

(05-09-2018 04:37 PM)flanders Wrote:  

(04-13-2017 10:37 AM)Deepdiver Wrote:  Anyone have opinions about Kali Linux distro for cyber security penetration testing and ethical hacking???

It's good at it. That's my opinion.

Do you have an opinion on Knoppix at all, Ned?

What with Kali and Debian and Knoppix kind of being related.

I'm a hobby tourist to linux compared to a lot of serious computer guys I know. There's a copy of counterhack reloaded in my library that's been neglected too long and is something that I ought to go through.

I don't have much of a relevant/current opinion on knoppix since even bad/cheap computers these days will run pretty desktop environments or window managers and 'heavier' unix applications. The last time I used it was in 2007 on a compaq thrift store laptop, it went from a real piece of shit to something functional. Anything debian based is usually good.

Most of my computers run ubuntu MATE. If we're just talking really small linux distros, slitaz is a lot of fun to use.

(05-09-2018 07:36 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  I've been chatting about doing a data sheet on using Virtual Machines for a while now. And this would be a great tool to tool about with different Linux distros. Seeing what the different desktop environments look like. It doesn't cost anything and is pretty easy to do as well with some basic computer knowledge.

I'll try and get that up at some point.

*Agreed with many comments above, pulse audio is trash and crashes all the time. I don't mind MATE though.

I have thought about throwing down actual money on parallels or vmware since virtualbox is such a turd. You look up youtube tutorials or online tutorials on how to use features that should be pretty easy to figure out (access a flash drive or network within the virtual machine), and end up dicking around about eight hours and getting nowhere.

Post: #39

(05-09-2018 07:16 PM)StrikeBack Wrote:  Generally it's the OS that gives you the *choice* to make yourself as secure as private as you know how to. Windows and Mac hide most things from you, and it's very hard to do anything that Microsoft or Apple don't approve of.

If you do dumb things, no OS can save you. It's not your AI butler.

Regarding privacy, among the current OSes, it's the only one (I suppose you can do it on *BSD too but who wants to use that, it's annoyingly autistic) that lets me do this fairly easily without need for any third party expensive tool: "Run a secure browser over a VPN link inside a virtual network namespace separated from the rest of my computer"

That way, I can safely browse RVF without my ISP nor my employer's purple-haired brigade knowing, while everything else on my computer is still going over the normal network.

Everything you say is true StrikeBack. But once again I think we are all talking at cross purposes and conflating different arguments not just between each other, but ourselves as well.

I remember getting in to a bit of a 'to do' with Lenny over this subject a while back, but I wasn't giving my best.

It depends what the question is.

Threads like this, all kinds of people come out of the woodwork (that's a good thing) who you never knew knew that much about computers, and those that are quite eager to learn about computers as well.

Is this privacy we are talking about here?
Or anonymity?
Or something else?

Everything in your post is spot on StrikeBack. it's just a tangent from what I was talking about so is a bit off piste to what I was trying to say. No harm. No reason why you should follow up on what I'm trying to say.

I know I'm pretty basic with my knowledge on the tech side of this.

I know there are a few RVF members who do this shit for a living and are way out there with regard to the technicalities.

I'm just trying to get a framework that even noobs can understand.

But first we have to define the problem.

Post: #40

(05-09-2018 07:36 PM)flanders Wrote:  

(05-09-2018 07:01 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  

(05-09-2018 04:37 PM)flanders Wrote:  

(04-13-2017 10:37 AM)Deepdiver Wrote:  Anyone have opinions about Kali Linux distro for cyber security penetration testing and ethical hacking???

It's good at it. That's my opinion.

Do you have an opinion on Knoppix at all, Ned?

What with Kali and Debian and Knoppix kind of being related.

I'm a hobby tourist to linux compared to a lot of serious computer guys I know. There's a copy of counterhack reloaded in my library that's been neglected too long and is something that I ought to go through.

I don't have much of a relevant/current opinion on knoppix since even bad/cheap computers these days will run pretty desktop environments or window managers and 'heavier' unix applications. The last time I used it was in 2007 on a compaq thrift store laptop, it went from a real piece of shit to something functional. Anything debian based is usually good.

Most of my computers run ubuntu MATE. If we're just talking really small linux distros, slitaz is a lot of fun to use.

(05-09-2018 07:36 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  I've been chatting about doing a data sheet on using Virtual Machines for a while now. And this would be a great tool to tool about with different Linux distros. Seeing what the different desktop environments look like. It doesn't cost anything and is pretty easy to do as well with some basic computer knowledge.

I'll try and get that up at some point.

I have thought about throwing down actual money on parallels or vmware since virtualbox is such a turd. You look up youtube tutorials or online tutorials on how to use features that should be pretty easy to figure out (access a flash drive or network within the virtual machine), and end up dicking around about eight hours and getting nowhere.

Interesting.

What you say about VB I mean. I've got a few 'images' that work for me but they have become a bit unusable lately. Mainly running XP and whatnot. I must admit I'm not up on the game at all.

Vmware seems to be the main competitor to Virtual Box (might be wrong about that - was the last time I looked - for free anyway).

There's also Microsoft .VHD is it? I forget now. That would be handy. There is all kinds of things I'd like to virtualise from old installs and backups. I think True Image even supported .Vhd disks up to a point.

Whatevers.

Virtualisation is great. But the tech probably isn't there for most people that would like to use it in a realistic and pragmatic fashion.

I'd be happy to throw down mucho dollars too for a workable solution. It's one thing having a VM to surf your pr()n, but another to have something that can maintain directory structures and paths to your old DAW software and data.

TMI. Sorry. Or maybe NEI. I don't know.

Anyway, I was just testing you. I can't really shout too loud myself as I only ever really used Kali for proof of concept stuff. I know it's based on Knoppix which is based on Debian, but that's just silly shit really in the grand scheme of things.

Linux kind of bores me. The people that use it bore me (for the most part). I've gone in to it quite deep as well sometimes doing beta testing for unique distros of Ubuntu running bespoke DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations).

I just want to get shit done. I don't want to break the law. I don't mind getting technical if it's for a reason.

What was the question again?

Ah yes.

(05-09-2018 07:36 PM)flanders Wrote:  You look up youtube tutorials or online tutorials on how to use features that should be pretty easy to figure out (access a flash drive or network within the virtual machine), and end up dicking around about eight hours and getting nowhere.

It can be very frustrating figuring out how to do this. I know.

Even copying disks and virtual machines could only be done by terminal commands (no gui) last time I looked. Sometimes it's not as easy as just changing something in the VB Manager gui.

Off the top of my head, I would say you need to get the Extensions package that enables stuff like USB support. This is for Virtual Box I am talking about. I dicked around for a lot longer than eight hours I assure you to figure this out and get it all working. More like eight days, almost.

Then again, you don't want to have too many network drives set up and those nasty 'shared' drives - kind of defeats the purpose really of having a virtualised and sandboxed system. Maybe it's meant to be hard on purpose?

Even when you get USB flash drives set up, you can't just plug another one in because of different IDs and whatnot.

Linux is hard. Virtualisation is hard as well.

The good news is that virtualisation of Linux isn't that much harder again.

I flew by the seat of my pants for a long time. I conquered amazingly difficult problems. But then one day, a silly little thing brought the whole house of cards down. And I never really recovered from it.

That's Linux for ya baby!

Post: #41

I prefer Linux Mint using MATE. Mint is an offshoot of Ubuntu, only better.

YMMV. Lots of good advice in this thread.

Post: #42

(05-09-2018 08:12 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  Anyway, I was just testing you. I can't really shout too loud myself as I only ever really used Kali for proof of concept stuff. I know it's based on Knoppix which is based on Debian, but that's just silly shit really in the grand scheme of things.

Linux kind of bores me. The people that use it bore me (for the most part). I've gone in to it quite deep as well sometimes doing beta testing for unique distros of Ubuntu running bespoke DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations).

I just want to get shit done. I don't want to break the law. I don't mind getting technical if it's for a reason.

Very much true on the bold, and part of the reason why FOSS software/applications has such a huge inherent disadvantage that's not immediately visible to the layperson. If you're running a business, then spending ten labor hours or a week dicking around on an application whose popularity belies it's effectiveness is inexcusable, while spending a hundred dollars (or 500$, the money doesn't matter) on licensed software that works and just does what it's told isn't. Feature rich licensed software that does useful things, has inbuilt support .. or a customer service chatline, or something, and won't randomly break or crash for no reason. When you see how well Parallels on OSX works after using "free" software [computer-dumpster.gif].
I remain somewhat convinced that virtualbox is only used by people who want to see how pretty different linuxes are.
Even government agencies (France and parts of Germany, I think?) who tried to switch to ubuntu or gentoo for their office computing needs ended up switching back after some years because cost-saving estimates were exaggerated, and we all know how "effective" government agencies "need" to be on a daily basis. All of their enterprise workstations are probably 5 years behind anything you'll find in the US so even with those estimates in mind they still found no clear advantage.
I use it on my personal machines, everything works well enough for what I need, but given the option (for instance, making low 6 figures on a sole enterprise business), yeah I'd be using nothing but licensed software.

rigsby Wrote:It can be very frustrating figuring out how to do this. I know.

Even copying disks and virtual machines could only be done by terminal commands (no gui) last time I looked. Sometimes it's not as easy as just changing something in the VB Manager gui.

Off the top of my head, I would say you need to get the Extensions package that enables stuff like USB support. This is for Virtual Box I am talking about. I dicked around for a lot longer than eight hours I assure you to figure this out and get it all working. More like eight days, almost.

Then again, you don't want to have too many network drives set up and those nasty 'shared' drives - kind of defeats the purpose really of having a virtualised and sandboxed system. Maybe it's meant to be hard on purpose?

Even when you get USB flash drives set up, you can't just plug another one in because of different IDs and whatnot.

Linux is hard. Virtualisation is hard as well.

The good news is that virtualisation of Linux isn't that much harder again.

I flew by the seat of my pants for a long time. I conquered amazingly difficult problems. But then one day, a silly little thing brought the whole house of cards down. And I never really recovered from it.

That's Linux for ya baby!

I figured out how to access the network eventually (flash drive no longer necessary) but that was at least one LTS iteration ago and I'm not eager to repeat all that fucking around. It might have gotten better since. For what it's worth there's still a lot of value to be had in FOSS for hobbyists.

I keep a shitty NUC (and a shitty laptop) for installing whatever OS/app/etc that might be useful. I think the extensions package came preinstalled with the updated virtualbox but might be wrong on that one. Not surprised to hear you lost your appetite for ramming square pegs into round holes. Mom always told me I should have just been a pipefitter.

Post: #43

The level of paranoia is strong in this thread. The best security is no security.

You can't fuck with what you're hiding from. Can you also shoot guns through walls?

How are you going to rely on any OS to protect you from data collection if you don't even know how to build a kernel.?

The internet is not LARP, so open your shit up and explore.

AES256 is the standard and is what most use for encryption and it's crackable. But the point of AES256 is just to be difficult. Unless you're fucking with one time pads along with some "post quantum security" you're pretty much fucked if the GOVT wants you.

If you're worried about files and or file sharing there is a group of PhD's out of the University of Waterloo that done some clutch shit. Here are their patents -

https://www.google.com/patents/US9576149

https://www.google.com/patents/US9619667

https://www.google.com/patents/US9703979

https://www.google.com/patents/US20150365232

Post: #44

I'll chime in about the notion of not being able to "just get stuff done" on Linux. Most things are now contained within a web application, and as people are dumbed down further by apps and smartphones, you won't see this trend go away. For 90% of people, it does not matter what OS you use. If you're inside a web app, word processing, browsing the internet, and watching Netflix, you don't even need a computer. Most people could run a Linux distro without being the wiser, because their daily computer activities involve the hardware capabilities of a smartphone. I always laugh seeing those Apple commercials where the tag line is "what's a computer?" - Definitely, for most people, all they need is an Ipad.

Are there some proprietary solutions that do everything you need easily? Yes. Is Photoshop better than GIMP? Depends on what you're doing, for combining HDR photos for example, it most definitely is easier and saves me hours. For 90% of other things though, they're interchangeable. I know someone that is a high level graphic designer that only works with Blender and FOSS, and has people coming up to him wondering how much his software costs, and are subsequently blown away when he replies "pretty much nothing". I have Photoshop on a Windows partition for when I need it, and then switch right back to my Linux partition. With an SSD, this takes one minute, so who cares about the interruption.

Linux for programming and creating software is unparalleled. You will have an infinitely easier time on a Linux machine doing data processing, machine learning, or programming pretty much anything outside of Swift and C#. Installing programs is 100x easier with a community repo on a Linux distro than going to individual sites and using an install wizard. There is a reason that the vast majority of servers that serve the internet as we know it are Linux based, and that supercomputers the world over are running Linux. Because it serves it's purpose exceptionally well in those environments. Linux for security purposes is unparalleled if you know what you are doing.

Yes, learning the command line sucks for most non-technical people (and I've seen people actually panic when seeing one), but you actually get things done more quickly once you know what you are doing, and your solutions are likely better and faster than payed-for solutions. I can partition a hard drive and move files around 5x faster than I would in a GUI application. It takes time, but depending on what you do for a living, it can be time well invested. If you write for a living, it's likely not going to pay off; if you are a developer, it will likely pay off in spades.

It then becomes a discussion of Open Source vs. Proprietary solutions.
The thing about Open Source is that it will continually get better, as the community grows and contributes, you get a product on par with a Fortune 500. You may have an issue today that is patched tomorrow, I have experienced this many times. With a closed operating system, you may never see these fixes. I run with all 3 of the major OS's for different reasons, but Linux fills it's niche exceptionally well, and is continually growing and getting better.

Post: #45

What you guys are referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

Post: #46

(05-06-2017 11:17 PM)Rawmeo Wrote:  I am using Arch Linux for all my daily needs - the last time I touched Windows was 2 months ago when I forgot my laptop and my wife lended me hers.

Linux is like a virgin woman: We all know it is the best, but you need to take time at the first install to tweak it to your needs to ensure that it'll be the best. This means installing packages, dock applications, desktop environments, WMs for applications who don't work well in Wine, and all the little nooks & crannies that make it user friendly. With the possibility of configuring as many shortcuts as you want and the ability to customize your desktop as much as you want, there is no excuse to find Windows more user-friendly.

Now for the sad part: Arch requires a tutorial for the first-time install, but it is easier than we think. This is the tutorial that I've used:
http://www.brandonkester.com/tech/2014/0...-uefi.html

Ubuntu is somewhat "Linux for newbies". They aren't really privacy-oriented (some versions send your search queries to Amazon to offer you products), but are rather aimed at Linux beginners who want to dip their toes in this environment. Hardcode Linux users like me like to install everything from scratch. Arch Linux is actually "linux from scratch" with a package manager. It is a bare vanilla distro that allows you to customize it to the flavor you need and make it look like any other distro - most Linux distributions are built on top of Arch.

If you want real privacy, here's how it works.
1) Install Arch Linux with a desktop environment (KDE is the best IMO) with full disk encryption (as per the above tutorial, it needs to be done at install time)
2) Delete ~/.bash_history and make it a symbolic link to /dev/null
3) Disable Akonadi (KDE) or Zeitgeist (GNOME)
4) Install Firejail and run "sudo firecfg" to make all your apps run inside the Firejail sandbox
5) If using KDE, configure Klipper to limit history to 1 item (in System Settings)

If you want to be even more hardcore:
5) Configure a VPN in NetworkManager and make it connect at startup
6) Run your sensitive shit in a VM inside an encrypted LUKS / VeraCrypt / etc. volume
7) Have a script validate the checksum of the files in your /boot partition every time you open your encrypted volume (easy to code)
8) If your OCD kicks in, use Secure Boot, you'll need the PreLoader.efi file here:
https://blog.hansenpartnership.com/linux...-released/

So in short, I think Ubuntu is good for beginners, but when you become more advanced, you realize that Ubuntu kinda sucks. Real privacy advocates use Kali, Arch, or Tails (amnesic live OS). I personally use Arch because I can save all my documents on my persistent hard drive and do all of my daily tasks without any problem.

Windows sucks for many reasons:
1) It sends your position to Microsoft
2) If you forgot to disable the option, it sends your browsing history and typing data to Microsoft - which will take pleasure in sharing it with Big Brother
3) They send your unsaved office files to their servers for "easy recovery" - and sharing with the US government (Apple does that too)
4) It's almost impossible to do a task without leaving footprints like temp files, registry entries, etc. on the hard disk
5) Operating systems, like the web, should be open standards, not owned by a corporation

All this and they still got him.

Post: #47

What I'm doing:

Go into windows 10 privacy settings, turn everything off (I leave a few things on but to be safe just turn it all off.) I check every time windows updates to see if they snuck anything new in.

Brave browser with all shields on

VPN

I generally don't use TOR browser because "hate speech" is about as bad as my online activity gets.


Brave now has built in TOR, I'll have to read up if they implemented it well or not.


By the way if you are using TOR make sure you aren't running another browser, torrent downloads, windows media basically anything else connected to internet.

Post: #48

(06-29-2018 01:33 AM)godfather dust Wrote:  By the way if you are using TOR make sure you aren't running another browser, torrent downloads, windows media basically anything else connected to internet.

Could you elaborate on this a bit more? Thanks.

Post: #49

(06-28-2018 11:56 PM)oilbreh Wrote:  What you guys are referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

The best reply so far and a deep understanding of things!
My compliments!

Post: #50

I work in engineering and I'd be happy to reply to people should they have any questions.
There are some useful tips on this thread but ... and please don't take this the wrong way...there's a lot of useless info here as well.
I agree with whoever said above...It all depends on what you really need.

I can say that, if you want to get into REAL Linux then build your own Linux https://www.gentoo.org/
These are advanced things but if you wanna be a Linux person then mandatory:

- Master the command line
- Learn about libraries
- Learn Python
- Learn C

I took a look at Whonix...it's pretty interesting but very limited.

There's a lot of cool technologies out there now that you can use to your advantage:

- Kubernetes (you can administer/orchestrate anything anywhere)
- Containers (fuck virtual machines, enclose everything in a container)

I take it at this point people should be aware of VPN and Proxy sites.

Cheers!