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1 • Persistence (by Matt on 2022-09-19 01:35:07 GMT from Austria)
Why is persistence implemented differently on USB flash drives? A thumb drive is not really a read-only medium anyway, why do they make a read-only LiveUSB plus some writable space for persistence?
2 • Porteus (by Simon on 2022-09-19 01:38:53 GMT from New Zealand)
Oh, looks like the first legit post, as the only existing one is a ridiculous ad. Porteus sounds like a bit of a headache. I think Slax is back to basing (at least one variant of) its portable OS on Slackware... so Slax might be a better option for a portable Slackware.
3 • Dangnation (by Simon on 2022-09-19 01:39:40 GMT from New Zealand)
Foiled again! One day, Matt from Austria... one day
4 • Proteous (by SMS on 2022-09-19 02:06:04 GMT from United States)
Thanks for doing the hard job of keeping us informed of the poisnous mushrooms to avolid!
5 • Remote access to Linux desktops (by Roger in Lawrenceville on 2022-09-19 02:10:48 GMT from United States)
I use Teamviewer and Splashtop to access my Linux desktops remotely. They are proprietary commercial programs though. Both will connect to the login screen once the device is on a network.
6 • Remotely wiping a HD (by shep971 on 2022-09-19 02:17:05 GMT from United States)
How well you "wipe" a HD is a matter of degree. Making a hard drive inaccessible to low level thieves can be done quick and easily by zeroing out the boot sectors. This is how the Michelangelo Virus functioned:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_(computer_virus)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda1 bs=512 count=100 will zero out the first 100 sectors,
You ould script this to run on a remote command or with several failed logins.
Note that newer hard drives put a backup gpt on the last sectors. gDisk, which can reside on the hard drive can also completely remove mbr/gpt boot partitions.
If you are worried about State level data retrival (GRU, FBI, CIA, G6 ....) you pretty much have to perform 2 passes of random bits like BleachBit. This can take several hours.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BleachBit
7 • Spiral Linux (by Heinrich on 2022-09-19 02:40:34 GMT from United States)
I’ve never used Spiral Linux, but Jack Wallen gave it a very positive review on ZDnet in July: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-spiral-linux-and-why-it-could-easily-become-a-top-contender-for-users-new-to-linux/
8 • Spiral Linux - you've missed out the important bit! (by Bin on 2022-09-19 05:48:11 GMT from United Kingdom)
Spiral Linux is set up to use Debian Backports AND Debian Fasttrack by default. This means that although it is running Stable, it is also getting the latest it can have from Backports and extra goodies via fasttrack. The software selection is what you would get from the Debian installer just using the selected DE rather than Debian Desktop this makes it much lighter. You don't get loads of tweaks and tools and developer specific stuff, it just works. Heartily recommend!
9 • Shtredding (by Any on 2022-09-19 06:08:53 GMT from Spain)
It is useless to expect you could connect to your stolen laptop and delete/shred files. If encrypting is not an option then you could make a script to check at boot if a specific hardware is connected to your laptop and if not to destroy the data. For example checking for a USB drive, mouse or certain key word in a text file on the pen drive. To make things easier you could do a partition for /home and shred the entire partition. Maybe this will get around the BTRFS shred problems.
Or just use a large veracrypt container.
10 • Porteus, Kiosk edition, Slax (by eM-13 on 2022-09-19 06:28:05 GMT from Poland)
I've used Porteus few years ago. It's a nice concept to have a bloat free minimal portable Linux iso with ability to add your own customizations. I've stopped using it because it wasn't reliable. Same with other distros like Slax. They randomly forget settings after reboot. File gets corrupted or for some reason is not loaded during next boot and you are forced to start from scratch again. Very, very annoying. But my worst experience was with kiosk version. Very hard to setup. They make sure you won't be able to make your customizations like adding extensions to the browser straight from iso. No no, you have to do them hard way by remastering iso by hand from other distro. It is supposed to be a secure rolling realease distro but is distributed without latest version of browsers. Worst thing was still to come because bad sound harware initialization with max volume noise comming out of laptop speakers destroyed them in one of my laptops.
11 • Thief proofing a PC (this week's reader question). (by Greg Zeng on 2022-09-19 07:06:39 GMT from Australia)
Some comments have been made on shredding the SSD, or HDD, totally (slowly) or partially (quick). Distrowatch suggested Disk or Partition encryption (fast). Writing zeros into the first sections of the storage medium is foolproof? Comments are welcome.
Some operating systems and hardware units offer alternatives: third-party accessories (Wifi, Bluetooth, devices, connections) for immediate access, otherwise destruction of the data.
My Dell Inspiron (recent model) offers inbuilt firmware security encryption. This inbuilt security can be avoided, by the system administrator. Otherwise, various types of "standard" software encryption can be chosen, solely or with other types simultaneously. Linux and most operating systems have these encryption types.
The automatic destruction of the data (SSD, HDD, etc) upon improper entry (theft, security agencies, etc) is not possible AFAIK in most operating systems or hardware types. So "smartphones" etc claim to offer such protection. Most security investigators might physically separate the data storage units, for off-site hardware analysis of the data, rather than allow any inbuilt operating system or apps have any chance to destroy the data.
12 • remotely accesssing a stolen computer or phone (by Simon Plaistowe on 2022-09-19 07:18:10 GMT from New Zealand)
I use AnyDesk, maybe I could log into my laptop if it were stolen, but better to encrypt anything important & be sure to backup. Much easier on an Android phone with Google's built-in tracker, also I have an app which emails me photos & audio if it detects dodgy activity. Years ago a thief stole my phone off my kitchen table while I was mowing the lawn. Within half an hour I'd tracked him down. Imagine his surprise when I rocked up & threatened to shove various parts of his anatomy up various other bits. Got my phone back without any further drama. But I digress :-D
13 • Persistence in a distro (by Hank on 2022-09-19 08:09:27 GMT from Denmark)
Porteus is pretty good in a kiosk function but as noted difficult as a fully fledged live environment.
the king and queen of lightweight configureability,
speed and if wished for persistence is antiX. All the reliability of debian stable, backports can be easily added, the system remastered to keep startup fast. Change repos to sid for most up to date software. Easily,Make a snapshot and write it to usb or dvd all with included tools. Run live or if you feel like it install to disk. Configue add or remove packages Make an ISO from your installed system, as a personal backup or stripped of personal data for friends. easy peasy.
I ran antiX full runit version live on a system with no drive for months without any issues.
SysV init is just as reliable. No systemd, big plus, no dependancy chaos, no waiting minutes for a startjob to finish, no slow shutdowns, Love it.
14 • Spiral Linux (by Pete on 2022-09-19 08:33:09 GMT from United Kingdom)
I have used this distro and it seems pretty good to me. I'm no expert but it did everything I asked of it.
Very sad day here in the UK.
15 • stolen PCs (by Any on 2022-09-19 08:58:37 GMT from Spain)
@12 I assume the author of the question did not mean protection against "Most security investigators" as this implies specific knowledge and equipment and a normal user would not deserve such an attention. I think he just needs a method to destroy his data just "in case of". And destroying the data has an advantage over encrypting because of the trendy "harvest now, decrypt later" concept. A stolen today encrypted disk could be decrypted later. Better give them pain in the a.. with a shredded encrypted disk/partition. But then again a normal user should be out of scope for such time and efforts investments.
16 • SpiralLinux (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 12:23:04 GMT from Turkey)
SpiralLinux is the best Debian option for all level users.
I'm writing this comment from a laptop that SpiralLinux is installed on it. Second option is may be MxLinux.
17 • remote access (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 12:44:42 GMT from Turkey)
Simly secured ssh.
18 • SpiralLinux (by Zipslack on 2022-09-19 13:12:24 GMT from United States)
Glad to see SpiralLinux finally making it into the database. It's an excellent Debian-based KDE Plasma distro. Also be sure to check out it's "sister" distro, GeckoLinux, based on OpenSuse.
19 • Stolen data (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-19 13:29:41 GMT from Canada)
@15 (Any) My thoughts, exactly. This topic usually sends my into grumpy Grandpa mode...
Two things:- one, I NEVER keep anything of value on my machine. No matter how good you think your computer security is, anything on that machine is open to anyone with the right tools and knowledge. And most of those tools and knowledge are easily available.
Two, I have always viewed my laptop as quite personal. It rarely leaves my house. On the rare occasion that it does, it never leaves my grasp/sight. (I have a bag made just for the laptop that, once slung over my shoulder, it would require the removal of my head and one arm to get the bag, in which case I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care what happens to the laptop after that.)
20 • SpiralLinux (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 14:51:04 GMT from Turkey)
Builder edition is minimalist version with IceWM desktop. Low resource devices use it easily. Maintainer mentioned it for "advanced user" but it has only required software and IceWM (A bare KISS example). Anyone can shape it for own needs.
21 • Remote Access (by Trihexagonal on 2022-09-19 15:02:33 GMT from United States)
I don't even allow myself remote access.. I have physical access.
Nobody else could get past an empty workspace and an unplugged USB mouse with an unattended FreeBSD machine or the login screen on a Linux box.
***Free wallpapers I created available now at my updated site with many more to post.***
22 • Spiral (by Tad Strange on 2022-09-19 16:29:46 GMT from Canada)
I'm liking Spiral on an older laptop where I wanted an LTS type of distro.
I've tried Gecko in the past, but something about SuSE always fails to keep my interest. Maybe I just like the Debian ecosystem best because it was the first that I really got into.
23 • spiral linux (by man on 2022-09-19 18:11:43 GMT from Netherlands)
Fanbois here, not me it uses systemD. Yet another so called distro riding on the flexibility of debian.
See if it is around in a couple of years. My experience indicated it to be like an unripe pear. Tastless
24 • Automatic destruction of data (by Matt on 2022-09-19 18:36:06 GMT from United States)
@9, @11: Automatic wiping is a bad idea unless you back up very often. It is better to have a disk decryption key on an external device, so that in the absence of this device your data is inaccessible.
25 • Re: Persistence (by eco2geek on 2022-09-19 19:16:51 GMT from United States)
@1 "Why is persistence implemented differently on USB flash drives? A
thumb drive is not really a read-only medium anyway, why do they make a
read-only LiveUSB plus some writable space for persistence?"
Because they're making the USB stick emulate a CD/DVD, using a CD's read-only file system. The writable space is in a separate partition.
If you want a USB stick *with persistence* that doesn't require any effort, try openSUSE's live media. It automatically sets up persistent space on whatever space is left on your USB stick.(However, persistence slows the whole thing down.)
26 • SpiralLinux (by SpiralLinux on 2022-09-19 19:18:08 GMT from United States)
@23 Hi there, SpiralLinux creator here. I'm not going to try to convince you to use it, but notice that SpiralLinux is *not* a "so called distro", per the very first line of the description on its website:
> SpiralLinux is a selection of Linux spins built from Debian GNU/Linux...
Unlike many Debian-based distros that modify Debian packages and/or maintain their own supplemental repos, SpiralLinux has chosen not to do that so as to not make installed systems dependent on the SpiralLinux project (i.e. me). So SpiralLinux is effectively an alternative installation method and configuration of Debian, and the resulting installed system is entirely dependent on Debian.
@Everyone else: Thanks very much for your kind comments, glad to hear it's working well for you!
27 • SpiralLinux & systemd (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 20:03:34 GMT from Turkey)
@23
If you want SpiralLinux without systemd (Devuan based) you fallow link;
https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/discussions/53
28 • SpiralLinux (by poiuyt on 2022-09-20 00:27:55 GMT from Australia)
@26 Thanks for your work on both Spiral and Gecko. A lot of people on this forum complain about the endless distros based on something else instead of being something new and while I don't agree with that (people should do whatever they want), I reckon you've got it right by making alternative more user-friendly installation methods of the parent distro instead.
29 • Artix Linux (by Otis on 2022-09-20 12:44:19 GMT from United States)
@27 etc... So far down the DW PHR list, and yet resolves nearly every issue brought up in this space. Artix just may be the best Linux distribution there is for non-systemd init and solid, very fast, secure computing.
30 • Stolen laptop (by dragonmouth on 2022-09-20 14:01:30 GMT from United States)
If this-hard-drive-will-self-destruct wants to protect his data he needs to encrypt it. Were I after the data on that laptop, the first thing I would do upon obtaining it is to physically separate the laptop and the drive, thus obviating any attempts at remote deletion/destruction.
Were I after the laptop itself, I would either replace the drive or do a low-level format. Then I would install an O/S. This would never give this-hard-drive-will-self-destruct a chance to try to access his stolen laptop.
31 • @19 FriarTux: (by dragonmouth on 2022-09-20 14:12:43 GMT from United States)
"I NEVER keep anything of value on my machine. "
/GRIN/
Unfortunately you NEVER know what hackers/crackers might find valuable on your machine. What you may deem innocuous, a bad actor can find useful for his purposes. Then there is the data you don't even realize is automatically collected by the software you use.
Just sayin'.
32 • SpiralLinux (by Geronimo on 2022-09-20 15:16:31 GMT from Italy)
I installed it and it seems to me a very good customization of Debian Stable: great fonts, good choice of preinstalled software, attractive appearance. The most significant difference from Debian Stable is the preinstalled Backports repository.
33 • systemd (again) (by Gary W on 2022-09-20 16:19:11 GMT from Australia)
systemd is a popular topic for discussion (@23, @27).
I often wonder, is there any practical difference between Devuan, and those widespread prescriptions for removing systemd from Debian?
Disclaimers: MX user (with a Devuan box), and I'd rather run a BSD than anything polluted with systemd.
34 • SpiralLinux (by northivanastan on 2022-09-20 22:23:04 GMT from United States)
As an avid Debian user, I never liked the options available to me (and other users) for installing the system. It's either an ancient installer with several unnecessary steps, or an unpolished live system that includes all the (mostly unnecessary) localization packages by default. So SpiralLinux makes me very happy.
There are some things I'd do differently with it. I do not like the look of the Numix+Faenza theme and there are much better themes in the Debian repo, and in my opinion Plasma and GNOME distros should stick to the vanilla layout and theme (so users can set that up themselves). But there are also some great decisions, like the default btrfs filesystem configuration, and the inclusion of both Backports and Fasttrack repos.
From now on I think I'll recommend it to new users who I'd otherwise recommend Debian and close Debian derivatives, i.e. people in need of an unchanging, secure system that can be easily customized.
35 • Remotely wiping a drive (by JeffC on 2022-09-21 03:45:05 GMT from United States)
Now imagine if it were routine to have the ability to remotely wipe the data out on a drive...
How many would be asking how to keep some bad people from erasing their drive?
36 • What hackers find... (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-21 13:38:21 GMT from Canada)
@31 (dragonmouth) "... you NEVER know what hackers/crackers might find valuable on your machine."
So true...
I use my laptop for just about everything. It is my library (books, newspapers, magazines, technical journals), recipe box, encyclopedia, writer's tool (stories, poems, articles, etc.), graphic artist's tool (painting, drawing), communications device, and much, much more. If they wish to read the same stuff I read, they are more than welcome to my "unwiped" drive. Maybe my recipes might inspire them to eat better. As for the stuff I've written/drawn, if they can stomach it, good on them. If they wish to communicate with my family, I wish them luck.
Regarding SpiralLinux, THIS is one of the things I like about Linux. Debian is a pain to install, so, in true Linux fashion, someone fixes that and the sun shines more brightly. Love it. (@26 (SpiralLinux) Keep up the good work.)
37 • systemd (again) or BSD (by zcatav on 2022-09-21 17:40:31 GMT from Turkey)
@33
If you don't need k8s and/or extra 30K additional programs then BSD will be the right choice.
38 • Artix (by zcatav on 2022-09-21 17:56:30 GMT from Turkey)
@29
I tried artix linux. Because it was a rolling distribution, it was getting very frequent and intense updates. Therefore, it was not very stable. In addition, it did not have the diversity of over 60K programs that Debian had. I couldn't find some apps I needed.
39 • Artix Linux updates (by Otis on 2022-09-21 20:01:31 GMT from United States)
@38 Artix users need not install updates until they peruse them and decide whether or not it would be prudent to do so. Artix is a clever and intuitive system, and updates are not released until they're deemed stable, unlike some other rolling release distros (OpenSuse is good at that as well, and a few others).
Artix is stable.
60 thousand Debian programs? Have fun. Love the diversity of Linux.
40 • Artix and Stability (by David on 2022-09-21 21:07:38 GMT from United States)
Arch is unstable, due to a constant barrage of (untested) software updates. Artix is based on Arch. Therefore, Artix should be unstable too.
41 • Artix and Arch Stablility (by rb on 2022-09-22 03:02:02 GMT from United States)
Arch is a cutting edge distro, as well as the derivatives by nature. As soon as a package is updated upstream, it takes very little time for it to make it to the distro. This gives you the ability to have newer kernels, newer hardware support, newest software features and bug fixes. While this is not ideal for everyone, it is definitely not unstable. When there have been rare major issues, such as with grub recently, it is easy to downgrade to fix the problem if you know what you are doing. If you need extremely stable stick with Debian, but the software is old and out of date in most cases. The kernel is also outdated and does not support a lot of newly released hardware, in my case wifi. 5.10 is not new enough to support some of my hardware. As for Debian having more software, that is definitely not true. When you combine Arch and the user repositories, Arch has just as much software as Debian. Arch Linux has the largest number of packages among all Linux distros. Debian leads by the number of non-unique packaged projects. If you did not find what you were looking for in Arch, then you must have blinked and missed it.
42 • Remote Access (by penguinx86 on 2022-09-22 03:19:26 GMT from United States)
I don't have remote access to my laptop, and I don't want anybody else to have remote access either. It's a big security hole. Remote access is the first thing I disable with my personal home laptop. In a corporate environment, I may not have a choice who has remote access. The less people, the better.
43 • @41 re "definitely not unstable" (by Simon on 2022-09-22 08:57:16 GMT from New Zealand)
Arch is definitely very unstable. You're forgetting what "stable" means (fixed in place, not easily moved) and confusing it with one of the effects of stability (applications that work without bugs/crashes/etc). You may be right that Arch works most of the time, but it's not stable, so there's no guarantee it will continue working: you just hope it will, and (according to you and many other Arch users) most of the time what you hope will happen does indeed happen.
It's different with a stable OS. The software doesn't change so you know it will keep working the same way, day after day, year after year. Stability is about minimising change: as you say, Arch is a "cutting edge" rolling release distro, so it is the opposite of a "stable" distro (like Debian stable, Red Hat, Ubuntu LTS, Slackware, or any of the others that release occasionally and then keep that platform stable, only updating it with necessary security and bug fixes).
44 • Debian vs Artix (by zcatav on 2022-09-22 11:42:59 GMT from Turkey)
@41
I don't prefer use someone else's repo (I think it called something UAR). Official repositories are the way. The following line shows my kernel version on SpiralLinux.
Linux localhost 5.18.0-0.deb11.4-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 5.18.16-1~bpo11+1 (2022-08-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux
As you can see Debian Backports and Debian Fasttrack by default, SpiralLinux is not same thing with vanilla Debian stable.
All of these are IMHO.
45 • for what its worth... (by tom joad on 2022-09-22 16:10:01 GMT from Greece)
I long ago discounted the idea or concept of connecting remotely to a stolen computer. Yeah, you can, maybe, but there are way to many hurdles to jump. Once the computer is gone...its bye-bye.
The path I followed is to make sure as best I can what is on the computer will never, ever be found. I use full disk encryption. Yeah, it is a pain. But the world is a dangerous place even for average folks. I employ a very long passwords, over 20+ characters of all types. Yeah, you can brute force them but it will take a while even for the feds.
Example as per GRC.com. brancHtreegauze77+round => 3,106,266,216,369,922,375,245,484,442,102,782,269,741,626,495 or 3.11 x 1045, the 45th power. That is the search space where the password is hidden. Scramble those words a bit to account for entropy and yeah, busting that will take a bit of time.
Next I do redundant back ups including real time cloud storage. And my zip drives with personal stuff on them are encrypted too.
Next, I set all of my power settings to the shortest time frame possible. For instance close my laptop and it immediately shuts down. I have tested that a few times. It works. When I leave my laptop I always 'lock' it. Yes, my user password is long too. Good luck.
Is all that a gaurontee? No. But it will keep 'them' at bay for a long time, maybe even forever.
In the real world a thief likely doesn't care about the info on your computer. All they will do is wipe it and keep it or sell it to someone else. Thieves are lazy. The Feds will attempt to crack your passwords. If that is not easy and or fast they will throw YOU on in the s*****r until you tell them the password(s). The FEDS are pretty lazy too.
That is how I look at it. But connecting to a stolen laptop to wipe it clean...Forgetaboutit!
46 • Curious... (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-22 19:24:40 GMT from Canada)
I'm just wondering... why not attack the "remote wipe" question from a different angle. A timed wipe. If you use your computer at least once in so many hours, why not set it to wipe itself if not turned on by then? Or wipe itself if not turned on with a specific USB key drive it the slot? Also, I thought I read somewhere about a distro that will wipe itself if something is entered wrong. (SuicideOS ???) Not sure. Anyway, just some ideas.
47 • Porteus Persistence (by Mitchell on 2022-09-22 23:42:47 GMT from United States)
Persistence is the easy part with Porteus. Software package management is the difficult part. Annoyances include the root file manager auto-mounting every partition on my hard drive despite booting with "noauto" in the boot configuration file along with always needing to adjust the hardware clock and system time. "noauto" only seems to work with the regular user file manager.
Anyway,persistence is achieved by simply creating a "save file".I created mine as Porteus_Save_File.dat.It's installed on an ext3 partition.Which,by the way,that partition contains a traditional install of a different distribution. Installing Porteus can be done right into / of the partition without impacting the existing install of another distribution (as long as "vmlinuz" does not already exist). The Porteus install just creates a folder in / called "porteus" and a "syslinux" folder along with "initrd.xz" and "vmlinuz" files in /boot.
For persistence,just add the context to /boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg which points to the save file. For example , the last line in my porteus.cfg entry reads : APPEND copy2ram changes=/Porteus_Save_File.dat noauto
Installed to the hard drive with existing linux,I just made a custom entry in my existing GRUB bootloader to chain-load the Porteus syslinux bootloader.
48 • Persistence, wiping (by Wally on 2022-09-23 02:56:36 GMT from Australia)
Tried Porteus back when it billed itself as an OS for kiosks. Skipping it this time, as I see no use for me. I do have a light OS live with persistence on USB: Star. Small and light on resources, Star is based on Devuan, so it should please those who break out in hives at the thought of systemd. I know it's heresy, but I use Rufus (Windows) to create the live USB. I have not found anything else as easy and reliable for Debian/Devuan/Ubuntu persistence.
@46 Friar Tux, There are varied reasons for not using a timed wipe, no need to go into it here. I question the whole "wipe" idea. AES 256 encryption is still rock solid, just ask the corporations and governments that pay large ransoms to hackers for keys to retrieve their encrypted data. Worried? Encrypt! Don't worry, your friendly neighborhood hacker most probably doesn't own a quantum computer.
In almost any case, someone who steals your computer is not after your data, they just want your hardware. (Unless you are Hunter Biden or some other high muck-a-muck with deep secrets.) If I wanted your data, I can simply boot from a live USB to access it. If that avenue is closed, I can remove the drive. But I'd still have no access if the drive is encrypted.
49 • Passwords (by Matt on 2022-09-23 23:26:03 GMT from United States)
@45: Your example password probably has about 5 * 15 = 75 bits of real entropy, or circa 10^23 search space. That's possible to crack practically, though perhaps still expensive. The generation process needs to be more random, "scrambling a bit" is not enough. 20+ characters can have 160 bits of entropy or more, just generate them randomly.
50 • Passwords (by Matt on 2022-09-23 23:52:21 GMT from United States)
@49: Well, if length is 20 and only ASCII Latin letters and digits and two punctuation symbols are allowed you can get 20 * 6 = 120 bits of entropy. I have to say that your example password is perhaps not crackable even if its entropy is relatively low because Linux LUKS disk encryption uses PBKDF2 to derive the actual key (but maybe intelligence agencies have unpublished attack methods and/or custom hardware against PBKDF2).
Number of Comments: 50
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| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Issue 993 (2022-11-07): Static Linux, working with just a kernel, Mint streamlines Flatpak management, updates coming to elementary OS |
| • Issue 992 (2022-10-31): Lubuntu 22.10, setting permissions on home directories, Linux may drop i486, Fedora delays next version for OpenSSL bug |
| • Issue 991 (2022-10-24): XeroLinux 2022.09, learning who ran sudo, exploring firewall tools, Rolling Rhino Remix gets a fresh start, Fedora plans to revamp live media |
| • Issue 990 (2022-10-17): ravynOS 0.4.0, Lion Linux 3.0, accessing low numbered network ports, Pop!_OS makes progress on COSMIC, Murena launches new phone |
| • Issue 989 (2022-10-10): Ubuntu Unity, kernel bug causes issues with Intel cards, Canonical offers free Ubuntu Pro subscriptions, customizing the command line prompt |
| • Issue 988 (2022-10-03): SpiralLinux 11.220628, finding distros for older equipment and other purposes, SUSE begins releasing ALP prototypes, Debian votes on non-free firmware in installer |
| • Issue 987 (2022-09-26): openSUSE's MicroOS, converting people to using Linux, pfSense updates base system and PHP, Python 2 dropped from Arch |
| • Issue 986 (2022-09-19): Porteus 5.0, remotely wiping a hard drive, a new software centre for Ubuntu, Proxmox offers offline updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
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CensorNet
CensorNet was an Internet Management Appliance designed to control and monitor individuals accessing Internet resources on a local area network. This dedicated server inspects all inbound and outbound data and decides, based on configurable rules, whether the individual or workstation concerned has the correct access profile to allow the request to be completed.
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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