Hey 👋 dear Linux Community,
I’m still kinda new to Linux (started using this year 😅) I already made it to my main OS, even if I still missing some things which I used on Windows, anyway. What I wanted to ask you guys, what recommendations do you have for Linux Mint (Cinnamon)? In terms of security, optimization, (a way to make the UI looking modern ;-;) and privacy? I would be very interested in what you do guys to optimize your Linux setup :) I’m pretty technical, so there is nothing which could overwhelm me (probaly).
Thx! 🤍
#privacy #dataprotection #linux #linuxmint #opensource #foss #cybersecurity @linux
Install timeshift for auto backups, its a systemsaver.
Yeah, I actually rolled back my system after a borked update with this a few weeks ago, worked like a charm 👍
In terms of security, IMO just using Linux, having a regular firewall setup and using common sense online and not clicking on anything overtly sketchy probably puts you in ahead of 90% of people on the internet lol. I’m also quite partial to running OpenSnitch just to make sure nothing’s connecting to the internet without my say-so.
For privacy, I think it depends on your threat model but for the average person I’d say a VPN of some sort and mainly just being cautious about how much personal info you post on social media will cover a big chunk of it. Maybe a more privacy conscious email provider like Proton or Tuta over something like Gmail would help too, but none of that is strictly a Linux thing.
Kind of boring answers, sorry! But IMO the boring fundamentals do tend to cover the majority of stuff. Also there are places like privacyguides.org if you want to rabbit-hole it, but be warned that you might end up becoming one of those people who only goes on onion sites and pays for everything with Monero lol.
Also no idea about customizing Cinnamon, apologies.
+1 for Opensnitch, the UI could use some smoothing out but it’s very good.
Won’t OpenSnitch add delay to your trafic?
5 milliseconds, if that is a concern to you.
That’s minimal, but I’m also playing online games on my pc. This’d be a 12%-25% increase in my ping.
You can exclude games from your firewall for no latency hit.
Ah, thanks. Good to know.
@CrabAndBroom Thank you, but I already covered this 😅 When you check my profile, you will see thats exactly the stuff I’m dealing with day by day, but ty! I may will take a look at OpenSnitch, but I think Portmaster is already covering this need.
If you are looking for UI inspiration, you could give !unixporn@lemmy.ml or its counterpart at reddit r/unixporn a look. As a linux novice you might be interested in the KDE,XFCE or GNOME customizations that are shared in these communities.
Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !unixporn@lemmy.ml
TBH, from a privacy perspective you’re probably already pretty set – if you wanted to be more cautious you could use disk encryption, ensure that things are a bit locked down (ssh key only auth, firewalls, or find a guide on hardening like this for ex). In terms of your UI, it really depends on what you’re looking for, personally I find GNOME to be the best looking when compared to ease of use but when i made my first switch I started on i3 (but that would be Sway these days for Wayland) and never looked back.
My advice would be to get familiar with Linux as a whole first and then start tweaking things like your UI. It can be overwhelming to get used to the terminal commands (which btw are not necessary but I would heavily recommend as it can make things a LOT easier) and other weird Linux things (software installation, gaming, customization, etc)
Regarding the UI and the look and feel, I can highly recommend catppuccin as a theme in basically whatever you want. I use it on Mint Cinnamon as well, and find it very good looking!
Does mint ship a kde plasma variation? I find that UI to be more modern than cinnamon
Not anymore
For Privacy and Security: I personally chose to switch back to Windows and wait for either redoxos or spectrum-os to mature.
You can also try QubesOS, but for me it just started to bootloop.
Otherwise:
Use webapps, install as few things as possible.
For Privacy and Security: I personally chose to switch back to Windows
Ah, Microsoft Windows™, the OS known for its excellent privacy and security.
In it, there aren’t any viruses or malware that could infect your computer. It uses an amazing package manager, Microsoft Store, which contains all necessary apps, meaning you won’t have to install any insecure software manually ever again. Unlike that OS for nerds, Linux, which has tracking and ads everywhere so hackers can hack your bank account.
The best operating system is Microsoft Windows™, known for being modern, and not having any old GUIs mixed with the new ones for extra inconsistency. It overhauls everything while having perfect backwards compatibility that works 95.36743% of the time!
We need a sticky for these questions. “recommend me a distro” posts are getting really old.
@const_void It’s not about choosing distros in anyway, please read the post before you comment. 🙄
Give this a shot. https://lemmy.ml/post/511377
Install GUFW on your favourite Linux distro, set it to Home, and you need not do anything else. Do the usual stuff like using Firefox with uBlock Origin on easy or medium mode.
Here is my Debian 12 GNOME Stable setup, which takes maybe 15 minutes.
A tiling window manager and tmux. I don’t like window decorations, I think they’re a waste of precious screen real estate. And tmux… Well. It’s like pringles.
