Hi there,

Win10 is soon not supported. Tbh Linux have been on my radar since I started to break from the US big tech.

But how is security handled in Linux? Linux is pretty open-source, or am I not understanding it correctly. So how can I as a new user make sure to have the most secure machine as possible?

  • deadcade@lemmy.deadca.de
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    2 days ago

    Security is an insanely broad topic. As an average desktop user, keep your system up to date, and don’t run random programs from untrusted sources (most of the internet). This will cover almost everyones needs. For laptops, I’d recommend enabling drive encryption during installation, though note that data recovery is harder with it enabled.

    • Tanoh@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That is good advice, however sadly a lot of install scripts are basically: download this script from us, and pipe it to a root shell.

      • procapra@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Why not? You (usually) just click the check box during install, and you have 1 extra password when you boot up your system. Doesn’t seem too hard but I might be missing something.

        • Jumuta@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          when you fuck shit up you can’t really easily boot in from a usb drive and learn the recovery process

        • Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml
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          24 hours ago

          It’s surprisingly annoying trying to configure LUKS full disk encryption. I had to look up instructions many times over on Mint.

          • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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            21 hours ago

            Wait what? I don’t use mint, but with every other distro you just check the box at install and that is it.

            Are you saying its hard to configure after you have already installed? I could imagine it might be, but why not export a list of programs you use and back up the home directory. Reinstall and check the box, restore home, and import your package list?

            • Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml
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              20 hours ago

              Firstly, LUKS is under “physical disk for encryption” which is a stupid and confusing name.

              Secondly, if you want to dual-boot with LUKS you need to manually configure the partitions.

              Thirdly, you need to seperately assign root to be installed on the “physical disk for encryption”, and they have multiple volumes for that in the list.

              Fourthly, as with all LUKS encrypted Linux distros you need a seperate EFI, boot, and root partition.

              Fifthly, all of this partitioning is on a really small window that can’t be resized.

              • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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                20 hours ago

                I don’t dual boot, so I guess there is that. But everything else seems very confusing. All other installers say, do you want this encrypted? You click yes. And that’s it.

                • Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml
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                  20 hours ago

                  TBH I’ve installed Mint, Kubuntu, and OpenSUSE and I don’t remember which ones had which issues. I think they’re all Mint but maybe not.