The Linux Experiment

Andy Yen, the CEO of Proton (Mail, Drive, VPN, Pass...) answered a lot of the questions you, the community, asked, in an interview that covers basically everything!

He discusses security, privacy, the origins of Proton, how they operate, Linux support, future projects, products and features, quantum computing, passkeys, and more!

Proton Mail: https://proton.me/mail/TheLinuxEXP Proton VPN: https://protonvpn.com/TheLinuxEXP

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#vpn #privacy #proton #onlinesecurity #protonmail

Timecodes:

00:00 Intro 01:16 How did Proton start? 03:24 Why start with email? 06:03 What is Proton's business model? 08:34 Why set up in Switzerland? 11:33 What data do you have on customers? 14:39 How is encryption important? 18:20 Do you always need to use a VPN? 20:47 Why focus on building an ecosystem? 24:55 Is an Office Suite planned? 26:29 What differentiates Proton from competitors? 30:26 Is Proton a viable alternative to big tech services? 33:31 Why expand to more products instead of finishing existing ones? 37:19 Does the general public care about privacy? 38:45 What's next for Proton services? 40:08 What are the plans for native Linux clients? 46:03 Will ProtonVPN offer dedicated IPs to everyone? 47:46 What's the environmental impact of Proton? 49:27 Proton on F-Droid, without Google Play notifications? 52:03 Why are code repos all separated and hard to find? 53:12 Why are addresses ending in ".me" ? 54:57 When will all apps reach feature parity? 56:24 Will SMTP relay be supported? 57:47 Will Proton focus more on businesses in the future? 59:50 Why put all your eggs in one basket with just Proton services? 01:01:00 Will Proton support passkeys? 01:03:21 Does E2E matter is the recipient isn't using it? 01:04:49 Will Proton disable port forwarding in VPN? 01:06:41 Is encryption enough to make email private? 01:09:06 What protects users from a change in Proton's code licensing? 01:11:14 How does Proton protect its infrastructure? 01:13:14 Impacts of Quantum Computing on privacy and security? 01:14:24 What's the future of Proton Bridge? 01:16:25 When will Proton photos be a thing? 01:17:17 Plans for Proton Notes? 01:18:20 Will VPN support the Apple TV? 01:21:12 Support the channel

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#Linux #OpenSource #TechNews #Ubuntu

Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 00:36 Sponsor: 10% off your first ebsite with Squarespace 01:33 Linus Torvalds talks about the future of Linux 03:58 Ubuntu might drop older CPUs 06:57 LXQt working on Wayland as well 08:33 Cosmic gets more improvements 09:48 GNOME & KDE updates 11:45 Gaming: Linux beats Windows, No Fortnite on Linux 15:17 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux 16:24 Support the channel

Linus Torvalds talks about the future of Linux

https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-on-state-of-linux-today-and-how-ai-figures-in-its-future/

Ubuntu might drop older CPUs

https://ubuntu.com/blog/optimising-ubuntu-performance-on-amd64-architecture

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-24.04-LTS-Desktop-Plans

LXQt working on Wayland as well

https://lubuntu.me/noble-alpha-featureset/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Lubuntu-24.04-LTS-Plans

https://lubuntu.me/noble-alpha-featureset/

Cosmic gets more improvements

https://blog.system76.com/post/the-spirit-of-cosmic-december-updates

GNOME & KDE updates

https://pointieststick.com/2023/12/15/this-week-in-kde-un-flashy-important-stability-work/

https://thisweek.gnome.org/posts/2023/12/twig-126/

Gaming: Linux beats Windows, No Fortnite on Linux

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/12/fortnite-on-linux-steam-deck-not-until-tens-of-millions-of-users/

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/announcements/detail/3860211327585452520

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Windows-11-scores-dead-last-in-gaming-performance-tests-against-3-Linux-gaming-distros.778624.0.html

Try the new version of Thunderbird (it's now my email & calendar client of choice!): https://mzla.link/tb-flatpak

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#Linux #OpenSource #TechNews

00:00 Intro 00:47 Sponsor: Thunderbird 01:40 Microsoft has to open Windows 03:22 FSF calls to the EU for more open source 05:06 AMD is teasing some FOSS work around AI 06:36 Peertube's roadmap looks pretty awesome 08:21 Desktop Environment news 10:47 Kernel 6.7 is full of good stuff 12:39 Gaming: Deck OLED, SteamOS update, Wine on Wayland 15:40 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux 16:36 Outro

Microsoft has to open Windows

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/16/23963579/microsoft-windows-11-eu-digital-markets-act-feature-changes

FSF calls to the EU for more open source

https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/openletter.en.html

AMD is teasing some FOSS work around AI

https://www.phoronix.com/news/AMD-Advancing-AI-Open

Peertube's roadmap looks pretty awesome

https://framablog.org/2023/11/14/lets-regain-ground-on-the-toxic-web-framasofts-2023-report/

Desktop environment news

https://pointieststick.com/2023/11/17/this-week-in-kde-panel-intellihide-and-wayland-presentation-time/

https://thisweek.gnome.org/posts/2023/11/twig-122/

Kernel 6.7 is full of good stuff

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/11/linux-6-6-kernel-confirms-long-term-support

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.7-rc1

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.7-USB-Thunderbolt

https://www.phoronix.com/review/bcachefs-linux-67

Gaming: Deck OLED, SteamOS update, Wine on Wayland

https://9to5linux.com/steam-deck-oled-is-now-available-to-order-with-hdr-display-and-bigger-battery

https://www.phoronix.com/news/SteamOS-3.5.5

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Wine-Wayland-HiDPI-Merged

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/11/wine-820-brings-directmusic-improvements-and-preparations-for-wine-90/

Try out Proton Mail, the secure email that protects your privacy: https://proton.me/mail/TheLinuxEXP

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#Linux #security #cybersecurity

00:00 Intro 00:56 Sponsor: Proton Mail 02:32 Software and updates 04:04 Services and SSH 06:38 User management 10:10 Physical Security 11:35 SELinux, AppArmor, and firewall 14:04 Parting Thoughts 15:15 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux 16:30 Support the channel

Password complexity tips: https://www.networkworld.com/article/2726217/how-to-enforce-password-complexity-on-linux.html

Tips to secure SSH: https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-unix-bsd-openssh-server-best-practices.html

The more software you use, the larger the attack surface for your Linux install is. It's always good to take a look at all the installed applications, and libraries, and remove what you don't use anymore. You can also remove packages that aren't linked to anything else and aren't used by anything.

On Debian or Ubuntu, for example, you can find these by running sudo apt autoremove

And on a desktop, you probably already apply updates, or your distro has auto updates enabled. But on a server, it's easy to let things slide, and forget to log in regularly and make sure things are up to date. I'm guilty of that myself.

And just like with packages, libraries, and apps, you should also make sure you only run the services you actually use. You can list all services running with:

systemctl list-unit-files

To stop a service you don't need, you can run

systemctl stop SERVICE

To stop the service from starting with the system, you can run

systemctl disable SERVICE

If you're on a server, the general rule of thumb is also NOT to run a graphical desktop on it. It will often be much more secure to use SSH to log in to the server remotely.

But you might also need to secure SSH first. If you have multiple users, make sure only the ones who need it have SSH access. To do that, you can edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file, and type AllowUsers then the names of the users that will actually have access to SSH.

Now, something that might be useful in general, for a server or a desktop, is making sure all the users are correctly handled. The first thing will be to disable root login.

If you decide to disable the root account, make sure at least one user has admin privileges though, or you'll have a system without any way to access any task with sudo. Once you're certain everything is ok, you can use the following method:

Edit /etc/passwd, and change the first line, by replacing /bin/bash, or whatever other shell root currently logs into, by /sbin/nologin (or /usr/sbin/nologin depending on the distro)

If you prefer, you can simply disable root login through SSH, so the account is still there if you want it locally, but remote attackers won't be able to login as root. To do so, you can edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config, and uncomment the PermitRootLogin line, and then set its value to no. Restart SSH with sytemctl restart sshd, and you're done.

To remove the ability to use USB, Thunderbolt or Firewire, you can add the following lines to their respective files (create them if need be). To revert this, just remove the lines that have been added in the various files by the commands.

Add: install usb-storage /bin/true to /etc/modprobe.d/disable-usb-storage.conf Add blacklist firewire-core to /etc/modprobe.d/firewire.conf Add blacklist thunderbolt to /etc/modprobe.d/thunderbolt.conf

Stream any OS, desktop, or app to your browser, now with translations: https://kasmweb.com/docs/develop/developers/builds.html

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#remotedesktop #vnc #rdp

How does a remote desktop work? Essentially, it mirrors the contents of one PC onto the display of another PC, either through a dedicated app, a web browser, or the native capabilities of your operating system. There are two primary protocols: RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol, and VNC, or Virtual Network Computing.

Let's start with KasmVNC. It's open source, free of charge, and you can download the server component from their GitHub page. It's packaged for various Linux distributions including Alpine Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Kali Linux, or Oracle Linux, all for ARM or x86 CPUs. It doesn’t have a server component for Windows or macOS though, so it’s Linux only.

Once the server component is installed on the PC you want to remote into, you'll need to use the command line. Simply run 'vncserver', and you'll be prompted to create a user that you’ll use to login to your remote desktop.

Then, add your user to the ssl-cert group with the command displayed in your terminal.

Then go to your client PC, open a web browser, type the IP address of the server followed by the port number indicated when you ran the 'vncserver' command.

You'll be asked to enter your login and password for the user you created, then you're in. You'll get a nice sidebar with options to tailor performance, frame rate, compression, and more. And if you want to really get into the details, there’s a YAML configuration file you can edit either in /etc/kasmvnc, or you can have your own config file for your user in .vnc.

If you want to remote into a Linux PC, most desktop environments have settings that let you enable remote desktop. In GNOME, for example, you go to the sharing page, then 'remote desktop', and enable remote control. KDE has the 'krfb' app that allows you to share your desktop. On the client side, all you need is either an RDP or VNC client. The 'Connections' app in GNOME and 'KRDC' in KDE are probably the best integrated apps, or you can use 'Remmina'.

"If you want to remote into a Windows PC, your best bet is the in-built Remote Desktop Protocol or RDP. To enable it on Windows 11 Pro (home doesn't support it), simply open the Settings app, click 'System', then 'Remote Desktop', and toggle it on. A pop-up will ask for confirmation, just click 'Confirm', and voila - you're done with the server-side setup.

On the client, you'll need an RDP client. For Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, you have Microsoft's Remote Desktop app. And for Linux users, there's Remmina - a free, open source tool available on any distro through Flathub.

If your server is a Mac, the process is quite similar. First, open System Settings, navigate to General, and then to the 'Sharing' page. Here, enable 'Remote Management'.

Next up, you need a VNC client on the client PC. Just input the IP address and the username of your Mac's user. However, one thing to keep in mind is that performance can vary. Since the resolution on Macs can be quite high, you might find it's not as fast as you'd like.

Some virtual machine clients can let you remote into a VM, for example, in Virtualbox, you have a remote display tab in the “display settings” of your VM. Now to make sure this works, you’ll need to install the Virtualbox Extension pack, which you can download for free from Virtualbox’s website.

https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.8/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.8.vbox-extpack

Then, in Virtualbox, you can click the tools tab, the the little list button, and then extensions. Here, click install, then select the extension pack, and you’re done. Now you can enable remote display in the VML’s Display settings.

Download Safing's Portmaster and take control of your network traffic: https://safing.io

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#Linux #OpenSource #TechNews

00:00 Intro 00:44 Sponsor: Gain control of your internet connection 01:42 Google wants to add DRM to the web 04:20 GNOME has a new way of managing windows 06:31 Plasma 6 removes a few features 08:30 Canonical drops LXD maintainers 09:46 FOSS Nvidia vulkan drivers land in Mesa 11:29 Linux drivers speed boost 12:46 Gaming news: Blizzard games on Steam & Heroic update 14:20 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux 15:14 Support the channel

Google wants to add DRM to the web

https://www.techradar.com/pro/googles-new-plan-for-the-future-of-the-web-has-a-lot-of-people-worried-heres-why

https://vivaldi.com/blog/googles-new-dangerous-web-environment-integrity-spec/

GNOME has a new way of managing windows

https://blogs.gnome.org/tbernard/2023/07/26/rethinking-window-management/

Plasma 6 removes a few features

https://pointieststick.com/2023/07/26/what-we-plan-to-remove-in-plasma-6

Canonical drops LXD maintainers

https://www.phoronix.com/news/LXD-Maintainership-Canonical

FOSS Nvidia vulkan drivers land in Mesa

https://www.phoronix.com/news/NVK-Merge-Request-Mesa

Linux drivers speed boost & battery life improvements

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Per-Policy-CPU-Perf-Boost

https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-anv-mod-boost

Gaming news: Blizzard games on Steam & Heroic update

https://linuxgameconsortium.com/blizzard-games-are-coming-to-steam/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/07/heroic-games-launcher-29-out-now-with-amazon-games-support/

Check out TuxCare's newsletter for news about Linux security: https://bit.ly/43VK9r8

Grab a brand new laptop or desktop running Linux: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en#

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00:00 Intro 00:24 Sponsor: Check out TuxCare's newsletter for news about Linux 01:09 Parts of the community are holding Linux back 03:08 Less visual innovations 05:22 Duplication of effort 08:03 99% there, forever 10:00 Hardware choice 12:43 Parting thoughts 13:11 Sponsor: get a PC made to run Linux 14:02 Support the channel

#Linux #opensource

First, the community. It's plagued by individuals who resist change. They see Linux as a closed, elite society where only the most tech-savvy belong. Any enhancement, especially ones that make Linux more user-friendly, are seen as a watering down of the 'pure' Linux experience.

What they don't realize, or what they count on, maybe, is that this attitude creates barriers. It can deter newcomers who might have over time become active contributors, offering help, or maybe even code.

Second, there was a time when each new update brought with it some big, shiny feature that got us all excited.This isn't just nostalgia speaking - Linux desktops truly received constant innovation and big changes.

But as Linux desktops have pretty much matured, the updates have started to lose some of that 'wow' factor. The focus has shifted more towards refining what we have, and towards backend work, with stuff like pipewire, wayland, portals and the like, and there's certainly a lot of value in that. However, it does make the system less thrilling for me.

Third: fragmentation in the development process. Now, when I say 'fragmentation', I'm not just talking about the huge number of distros available. See, the Linux community has people with their own way of how they want to use their computers. This diversity often leads to differing paths.

Everyone wants their idea of what Linux should be to be the one everyone works on. And if no one works on it, they'll start it themselves, even if there's a project that already does 99% of what they want.

In turn, this lack of concentrated effort can slow down the overall progress of Linux.

The next thing is what I'll call the 99% there status. What I mean by that is that on Linux, we very often get a feature or an app up to 99% of the features of its proprietary counterpart. But we never reach 100%. We make fast progress on all fronts, but we never completely go all the way.

And this is frustrating, because while personally, I'm ok with 99%, I also know that this missing 1% will be the perfect excuse for someone to not stick with Linux.

To finish, hardware choice and support. What happens when you want to stray from Linux manufacturers and take a walk on the Windows side of the market? Well, that's where things can get a bit... unpredictable.

Let's take a look at some examples. You've got your external peripherals, things like streaming gear or specialized controllers. While these devices will always have drivers for windows, and often for macOS, with Linux, it can be pretty hit or miss. Even when we look at newer form factors, like touchscreens, 2-in-1s, or even something that mimics the functionality of a Microsoft Surface device - the options available that run Linux natively are few and far between, if they even exist at all.

Even something as seemingly straightforward as a fingerprint reader can become a nightmare.

So, when you use Linux, you either have to be content with the hardware selection from various Linux manufacturers, or you have to be prepared for some potential hurdles when it comes to hardware compatibility. It's not an insurmountable challenge, by any means, but it's certainly something to keep in mind as you plan your Linux journey.

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#framework #laptop #linux

00:00 Intro 00:37 Sponsor: 10% off your first website with Squarespace 01:35 Who are they? 03:45 Customization Options 05:10 Comparison with Framework 07:07 Design & Build Quality 08:53 Specifications 10:35 Performance & Battery life 11:51 Display, inputs, speakers, mic & webcam 13:41 Should you buy one? 14:58 Support the channel

NovaCustom Website: https://configurelaptop.eu/

NovaCustom is from the Netherlands, and they're specialized in laptops, you won't find desktop PCs in here. They put the focus on customization of your laptop to your exact specifications, they ship Linux out of the box, and they use coreboot.

They offer 3 years of warranty, and they guarantee spare parts availability for your device up to 7 years after your purchase.

They have 14 inches, 15 inches and 17 inches, the cheapest they have is 749€, and the most expensive goes up to 3900 euros but that's with all the options ticked

Of course, you can change the specs, but you can also add you own logo, you can change the boot logo, you can engrave the palm rest, you can pick between Windows and Linux, or you can ask them to create a dual boot.

You can choose yo use your own keyboard layout, in ANSI or ISO, change the look of the super key, change keyboard illumination, ask to completely remove the mic and webcam...

Framework goes further, since you can even replace the entire motherboard and keep the whole chassis, keyboard, panel, webcam and ports. They don't have as many models and sizes though, and until the 16 inch model releases, you're not getting any dedicated GPU options, and you're limited to 13 inches.

Novacustom is more about customization, repairability, and allowing users access to their own hardware, where Framework is more about keeping the exact same device, and making it modular, and allowing complete upgrades.

In terms of price range, Framework will be a little bit more expensive than NovaCustom for the same configurations, but they do have better panels, and newer CPU options, plus Ryzen options that Novacustom don't currently offer.

My review unit is the NS51 series, their mid range laptop. In terms of build quality, it feels very rigid, the hinge is super solid. The whole thing is pretty heavy, 1.7 kilos, and it's quite sturdy.

The only real issue I can see is the position of the power button, next to a USB port

All the spare parts are accessible for up to 7 years after your purchase, and they give you a complete service manual.

My review unit came with a core i7 1260P. In terms of I/O, on the right, you get gigabit ethernet, the ill placed power button, one USB 2 port, a micro SD card reader, and on the right, you have your barrel charger, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, and 1 thunderbolt 4 and 1 type C 3.1 Gen 2 port. You can charge the laptop using USB C.

This laptop came with coreboot, with Dasharo firmware.

In terms of performance, the CPU gets a more than honorable 2498 in single core, and 7450 in multi core. As per battery life, this chip is relatively power efficient, it lasts for about 7 hours at mid brightness, wifi on, watching youtube videos in a loop.

Now let's look at the various things this laptop comes with. The display is 15.6 inches, 1080p, 16:9, 300 nits of brightness. It covers 98% of SRGB.

As per input, the keyboard feels pretty good to type on. They keys have good travel, they bounce back well, it doesn't feel mushy for a membrane keyboard, and it sounds pretty good. It's a good keyboard.

The touchpad is decent, it doesn't feel like glass, but it's smooth enough, large enough, and it feels precise. It did wobble a little bit and you can feel that when just using tap to click.

Now, the webcam is the usual potato quality fare, it's 720p.

The microphone is the same, it will be suitable for short video conferences, but it makes you sound distant.

And finally, the speakers, they're your average fare.