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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • rootkit & tails (by vern on 2020-10-19 01:05:44 GMT from United States)
I don't use any rootkit tools. Tails is something I'm just not interested in.
I just feel that if one's browsing is careful and ID any strange email, I feel relatively save. No problems so far, and its been years of use.
2 • rkhunter (by . on 2020-10-19 02:01:33 GMT from Norway)
rkhunter is my rootkit checking tool.
lynis is good for other security checks, too.
3 • U R Welcome!!! (by Neefty Nixer on 2020-10-19 02:26:21 GMT from Canada)
I have voted i do not check for rootkits. For those people who wish to break into my computer are always welcomed. As far as I know it runs three file-servers, YASSM and SAMBA. what all you can get is all yours!!!
4 • Tails (by Juan de la Cruz on 2020-10-19 03:04:32 GMT from Philippines)
@1, "I don't use any rootkit tools. Tails is something I'm just not interested in.
I just feel that if one's browsing is careful and ID any strange email, I feel relatively save. No problems so far, and its been years of use."
Tails is not to prevent rootkits, or any malware. It is to keep you as anonymous and safe as possible on the Web. No, you have no use for it, but a Chinese national who posts any disagreement with his/her government, no matter where he/she is. Being identified may mean a knock at your door, or at your family's door if you are overseas. Even here, in a relatively democratic country, a student voicing opposition to government policies may be "red-tagged" as a terrorist. If identified, he/she may be walking down the street, and riders on a motorcycle may drive by and shoot him/her in the head. This is not some dystopian sci-fi future. It's happening now. Enjoy your safety while you can, since your compatriots are giving it away piecemeal.
Yes, the dark web is a haven for all sorts of criminals, but anonymity is to be prized by those who want to keep or regain freedom.
5 • Tails (by bob on 2020-10-19 06:58:52 GMT from New Zealand)
Tails always finds and works and uses audio here. :) Out of the box every time...
6 • want some tails..? (by fonz on 2020-10-19 18:03:23 GMT from Indonesia)
ill always have an AV installed (for linux its clamav, wandows its whatever gets less gossip), but only active for ondemand scans. alwaysmode tends to be chaotic, and a bunch of smaller devs get chewed out often for not being macrostuff certified/verified or something.
a long time ago during college i was hit by a rootkit that killed my laptops BIOS from, research, yeah. thankfully it was still under warranty (which shouldnt have been) and got it replaced. i dont do anymore research, yeah, so my habit to only turn on ondemand still stands. no malware on both lin and wan for over +5 years.
#4 agreed, things are changing for the worse in our parts of the world -_-
7 • Tails... (by tom joad on 2020-10-19 15:57:24 GMT from Switzerland)
I like Tails. Over the years of it Tails has become more user friendly. Upgrading Tails has great advancements too. There are some issues with it I don't like but for the most part Tails does what is does well. One aspect of Tails I am not fond of is the hoops one has to just through to access one's other drives. I know it is for safety and all that but...
While I once used Tails on a daily basis I have since moved on to other ways of protecting myself online. Over the last several months I have begun to use a VPN with the Tor browser. I think that combination is more flexible and useful. That is much easier to upgrade. I have complete access to my computer. I believe using the Tor browser through a VPN is more secure. Some VPN's offer a 'double hop' too. That offers a bit more protection but slows the connection. And if one uses Azure-Meek one can go pretty much anywhere with impunity.
But I still maintain USB drives loaded with the current Tails...just in case.
8 • TOR (by @ my location on 2020-10-19 19:58:14 GMT from Portugal)
Question: is there a way to hide that someone is on TOR?
First and last time I tried TOR comments were blocked on the receiving end.
9 • Tor (by Jesse on 2020-10-19 20:05:40 GMT from Canada)
@8: The issue isn't that you're using Tor, most places (ourselves included) don't check for that. It's the use of exit nodes that are frequently used to abuse or attack websites. See our FAQ page: https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=faq#vpn
10 • Security Checks (by M.Z. on 2020-10-19 23:14:49 GMT from United States)
I only run security checks on my Mageia installs, which have integrated chrootkit into their MSEC tool & runs it automatically if you install the the root kit checker. I decided to do so on the machine I do banking on & have been doing it on the other machine I run the distro on as well. It may not be needed, but it's silly to pretend that security could never be an issue & smarter to be a bit more proactive.
11 • TAILS (by jay on 2020-10-20 23:24:44 GMT from United States)
I like TAILS in theory but abandoned it ver 3 its was too slow. TAILS 4.11 im thankful somebody gave it a review and hope for continual improvement as i see it as a moving target, naturally.
Rootkits suck, current tools are inadequate so i think most ppl just dont bother. If your computer is running weird wiping the disks, fresh installs fresh images might not be bad idea.
12 • TAILS remastered (by Dowah diddy diddy dum diddy Do on 2020-10-21 03:15:45 GMT from United States)
What I would do:
1. Reroll TAILS using XFCE instead of Gnome
2. Remove almost everything except browser+tor+settings - release as a separate .ISO d/l for power users (resulting "attack surface" would be MUCH smaller, for one thing)
For starters.
13 • Tails and others (by WhatMeWorry on 2020-10-21 04:21:39 GMT from United States)
@12, "Reroll TAILS using XFCE instead of Gnome." Probably easier to start with a minimal live distro like Star or Sparky, then add Tor and anything else you want.
For those who want more, and not less, There is Kodachi, which is the Swiss Army knife of anonymity. If it's not there, it don't exist! :) And there is Whonix, which runs as a VM.
14 • Rootkits (by Cheker on 2020-10-21 15:56:42 GMT from Portugal)
On the Linux side I use clamav and sometimes rkhunter. I need to get further acquainted with it. On the Redmond side I use Malwarebytes (free) to scan the system every now and then.
Number of Comments: 14
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Full list of all issues |
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RUNT Linux
RUNT (ResNet USB Network Tester) was Slackware Linux designed to run from a 128MB USB pen drive. It consists of a boot floppy image and a zip file, similar to "zipslack". It was intended to be a fairly complete Linux installation for use as a testing tool capable of booting on any x86 computer with a USB port and a bootable floppy drive. The boot floppy was based on Slackware's bare kernel. It contains an initial ramdisk to load USB-storage related modules and it pauses for 5 seconds to allow the drive to initialize. The bootdisk also contains Memtest86, a very useful RAM testing tool, which can be started by typing memtest at the boot prompt. The zip file contains a UMSDOS filesystem designed to be extracted onto a 128MB pen drive with an MSDOS filesystem using 2K clusters.
Status: Discontinued
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View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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