this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
454 points (99.1% liked)

linuxmemes

22327 readers
1583 users here now

Hint: :q!


Sister communities:


Community rules (click to expand)

1. Follow the site-wide rules

2. Be civil
  • Understand the difference between a joke and an insult.
  • Do not harrass or attack users for any reason. This includes using blanket terms, like "every user of thing".
  • Don't get baited into back-and-forth insults. We are not animals.
  • Leave remarks of "peasantry" to the PCMR community. If you dislike an OS/service/application, attack the thing you dislike, not the individuals who use it. Some people may not have a choice.
  • Bigotry will not be tolerated.
  • These rules are somewhat loosened when the subject is a public figure. Still, do not attack their person or incite harrassment.
  • 3. Post Linux-related content
  • Including Unix and BSD.
  • Non-Linux content is acceptable as long as it makes a reference to Linux. For example, the poorly made mockery of sudo in Windows.
  • No porn. Even if you watch it on a Linux machine.
  • 4. No recent reposts
  • Everybody uses Arch btw, can't quit Vim, <loves/tolerates/hates> systemd, and wants to interject for a moment. You can stop now.
  • 5. πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Language/язык/Sprache
  • This is primarily an English-speaking community. πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§πŸ‡¦πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ
  • Comments written in other languages are allowed.
  • The substance of a post should be comprehensible for people who only speak English.
  • Titles and post bodies written in other languages will be allowed, but only as long as the above rule is observed.
  • Β 

    Please report posts and comments that break these rules!


    Important: never execute code or follow advice that you don't understand or can't verify, especially here. The word of the day is credibility. This is a meme community -- even the most helpful comments might just be shitposts that can damage your system. Be aware, be smart, don't remove France.

    founded 2 years ago
    MODERATORS
     

    On their official website!

    you are viewing a single comment's thread
    view the rest of the comments
    [–] [email protected] 66 points 6 days ago (7 children)

    As a linux user you should know that all VPN companies are as trustworthy as a chronic liar, and therefore not rely on one. So it doesn't matter that they don't support Arch, really. And even good that they don't support Tails.

    [–] vinyl 34 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)
    [–] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    Arch users, by definition, roll their own Wireguard networks

    [–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago

    Of course, I need to access my two different networks from anywhere anyway. And then I can also force all traffic through random proxies.

    [–] A_Union_of_Kobolds 16 points 6 days ago (3 children)

    K so what should I be doing instead

    [–] vinyl 24 points 6 days ago

    Just use mullvad

    [–] [email protected] 13 points 6 days ago (2 children)

    Probably TOR.

    I hear I2P had a lot of potential, but also a lot of issues. Haven't checked up on that project in a bit. I know it was a BITCH to set up when I tried plinking with it some years ago.

    So TOR (despite the latency/speed issues and its own security concerns) is still probably about as good as it gets.

    [–] [email protected] 20 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    I think people shouldn't be using Tor for daily usage. It just slows down the network for those who actually need it. It would be better if people donated to the Tor project or ran their nodes instead

    [–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    Completely agree.

    Kinda get the vibe that guy I'm replying to is asking for the times when its actually needed. If I've got the wrong mark there and they're looking for daily driving, then Mullvad VPN (or comparable) is probably the better way to go.

    [–] [email protected] 13 points 6 days ago

    Yeah, Mullvad seems to have done the most to prove that they're not harvesting your data. You still have to trust them, but there's evidence that they're trying.

    [–] WIPocket 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    Yea, i2p is slightly more involved than just starting up tor browser, but its not that bad. The real problem for this case is that it doesnt have exit nodes built into the protocol, so getting to the internet is a bit harder.

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    So, if I recall correctly, I had to set up a device as an i2p server (seems like they were super light weight and you could configure your phone to do it) and then you could use your browser of choice with the "i2p server" as a proxy.

    Its my understanding that each of the "i2p servers" acted as both an entry point and an exit point. That is to say, while my traffic entered the network there, there were other people's traffic that could be routed through and/or exit via my server.

    Am I wrong on that assessment?

    [–] WIPocket 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

    Yep, almost. Every* i2p node also acts as a relay, which not only helps the network, but also your anonymity, by drowning out your traffic. It however only does this inside the network, it doesnt work like an exit node.

    By default, it does run a proxy, so that you can access i2p addresses using a browser set up to use it. It also lets you use the proxy to access the internet over i2p, but you have to choose an exit node manually (tho iirc there is one set up as default, which is fairly centralized, but still should be anonymous thanks for the rest of the network). A slight difference from Tor is also that these are protocol level proxies, so you will for example not be able to connect to a clearnet ssh server over these.

    *https://geti2p.net/en/about/restrictive-countries

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

    Interesting.

    It looks I was close on my understanding, but not quite there. Lol, guess I'll need to bust this back open.

    [–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago

    For most people, using https and dns over https (DoH) is probably all that's needed.

    [–] mumblerfish 8 points 6 days ago

    It say TailOS, not Tails though.

    [–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (3 children)

    Isn't VPN a must-have to avoid IP-tracking without downsides of Tor (slow, Cloudfare etc.)?

    [–] [email protected] 21 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

    A VPN introduces a new party who can harvest your data. It doesn't avoid IP tracking, it just shifts it from your ISP to another entity.

    You have to trust that your VPN provider's claims of no logging/tracking are accurate, you can usually get fairly confident with research but it's never 100%.

    Edit: to clarify, I'm not trying to dissuade VPN use. It's a still a great choice.

    [–] [email protected] 20 points 6 days ago

    a foreign commercial company is the safer choice compared to ur local isp who is bound to handover ur data to ur government if they ask for it. plus there are plenty of good vpn providers who can be considered credible due to third party audits and them being open source

    [–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

    I mean, I know for a fact I shouldn't trust my scumbag ISP. Most people fall into that camp here in the US.

    [–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    What are the alternatives? I feel tor might be good, but I don't want to overload the n/w with 1080p FreeTube videos.

    [–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

    A VPN is still a good choice, in fact if you setup your own VPN on a VPS that is an even safer choice because then you (sorta) control the certificate used for encryption. True, your hosting provider could still obtain that cert if they really wanted to, and they still have the data on your IP using it and for how long / how much, but it would make obtaining your data a targeted attack.

    But there are cons to setting up your own, such as misconfiguration exposing you, or just the setup time in general.

    [–] [email protected] 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

    The vpn use case is mostly when you have an internet provider that is actively monitoring you or accessing blocked content

    [–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

    The main use for VPN services is torrenting without getting nasty letters from your ISP.

    [–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    You're only shifting the tracking from your ISP and the target server to the VPN company, which is just as likely to talk.

    [–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    No, I mean, if I want a website to not know who I am? Isn't Brave or Librewolf with fingerprinting protection and a VPN a valid choice?

    [–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    Would prefer a random non transparent proxy for that. Or just only use IPv6, and have your router rotate that every so often. And, of course, minimize traffic to bad websites.

    [–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    What if your isp is stuck in the early 2000s and doesn't support ipv6?

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    The same should work IPv4. Afaik it's easier to rotate the IPv6 tho.

    [–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

    Some ISPs don't allow you to manually notate ipv4 addresses. I once had a plan that would rotate daily. It's been long discontinued.

    [–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

    I know, I don't even know why I was on the site lol.

    [–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

    Kinda misphrased, I didn't want to call out you specifically, I don't think you'd be stupid enough to fall for VPN companies, that was more of a general statement to/about all linux users :3

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

    Hosting vpn in cloud is the way to go, I guess?