Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Privacy
My wife and I are home desktop Linux users, and have been since 2007, when we both ditched Microsoft. We're in our late 60s and early 70s. We've used Ubuntu, LinuxMint (of several varieties, even LMDE), tried Zorin and Elementary, and live-loaded a few others (hooray for Ventoy!). We both currently use Debian.
I decided to go paranoid a while ago. I started looking into de-Googling and blocking Pixels and other anti-tracking crap. I was also looking at system and browser fingerprinting, footprinting, when I decided to see if there were any aids from the repos. Holy crap! There were, and several!
I found the webext- section. There are system based versions of Privacy Badger, Ublock, and a bit more that automatically incorporate into any browser they're compatible with. Slick! I don't have to mess with finding and installing those add-ons any more. They just appear by magic.
I dug a bit deeper and found Privoxy and DNSS. I installed both, then promptly uninstalled DNSS. It's not neighbor friendly with Privoxy, and I ran into network connectivity issues. From the writeups, I think I prefer Privoxy over DNSS anyway.
I then stumbled upon PortMaster, which bolsters ufw, which I do have enabled. It tells me things I never knew, and shows me how to allow, limit or void those things. Whoop! I also wanted to know that nothing was hindering my ability to BOINC. Yes, at my age, I BOINC, and nearly 24/7 (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing). There is no connectile dysfunction here.
Now, when we log into Facebook, Goggle, YouTube, or Amazon (and a couple others), we get security warning emails from them saying “OMG! We've seen a login attempt from someone not in your exact location from our records and from someone we don't recognize. Is that really you?” Tickles the spit out of me. OK, at my age, some things do excite me and I drool a bit, but you know what I mean, right?
I thought with the growth of Linux desktop use, and the explosion of concerns over desktop privacy and security, you might want to drop a note to some of your regular writers about this. I'm not a writer. I'm not a nerd, geek, dork, dweeb, or guru. I'm a retired HVAC service tech with too much time on his hands.
Blaine
Old Computers
In the recent issue of FCM, you wrote: “[…] in the HowTo section is an interesting piece on which distro to look at for a 32-bit machine. Gone are the days when Ubuntu used to run on anything. Unfortunately, 32-bit machines, which are still capable, are being ignored by most distros. Which is a shame. As it almost encourages people to dump them.” - I absolutely agree with you!
Ten years ago I started out with Linux: Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and many others (Suse, Manjaro, and, yes, Linux Mint). In 2015, I tried MX-Linux. I still have several 32-bit machines and run MX-Linux on them no problem. I would recommend MX-Linux.
Thanks to Alan German for his article, and a big THANK YOU to all who make FCM possible!
HD
Ventoy : A Solution?
Hello. I enjoyed a lot reading the Ventoy article and letters in Full Circle Magazine #187. Some days later, I downloaded the latest Ventoy .tar.gz (ventoy-1.0.82-linux.tar.gz) to update my USB stick (64 GB with 27 ISO images of Linux distributions and rescue files) from version 1.0.79.
I extracted Ventoy and looked in the README file. This includes a lot of information about Ventoy files and especially a note that caught my attention. Some files allow the use of a Ventoy GUI, with a suffix that relates to the CPU. I launched VentoyGUI.x86_64, and a GUI window opened (see picture # 187 page 46). First, I think I read (see attached image) the Ventoy version number of the one installed in my stick and the downloaded version. Hurrah! The question “how to know the Ventoy version in my stick?” is solved :)
At the bottom of the window, an “update” button; I used it to update my USB stick. On the menu bar, “Language” allows the user to select a language other than default English. And… last but not least, in the “Option” submenu, a line is “Clear Ventoy”. Is it the solution to erase the whole Ventoy structure from the stick? When pressing “Clear Ventoy”, twice a pop-up message informs me that the device will be formatted and requests my agreement. Seconds later, the second message, I was informed that Ventoy has been suppressed from the stick. To be checked!
I opened gparted to find detailed information about the USB stick. Answer: not allocated. The stick seemed void. Was it true? As Adam and AE discussed the opposite.
I unplugged, then plugged the stick in again. But nothing happened. The stick is not visible in Files. A lsusb in the command-line didn't show more. Opening gparted again, I didn't see the stick. But, it was visible on the Ventoy GUI. Gparted closed. I tried to re-install Ventoy in the stick using the Ventoy GUI; after the 2 warning message popups, another message informed me that “a problem occurs”. I unplugged, then replugged the stick, and tried again. It was then successful, and the stick appeared in Files.
I opened gparted, saw the stick. Trying to launch a total erase, I unmount the exfat partition, the one that could contain ISO and data files and suppressed it. Successful operation! I went to the fat16 partition, the one containing the Ventoy executable. Launch a partition suppress process. Success! Unplug and re-plug. With gparted, I tried to create a new partition table (msdos). Success! Then an EXT4 format. Success! After closing gparted, the stick was visible in Files. There, I needed to change mode to 777 (sudo chmod 777 {Stickname}) to be able to write files on the stick.
I loaded some various files (images, Libreoffice files, ISO images, txt files), unplugged it and plugged it on my TV box. I tried to read the contents. Success! I succeeded in opening a .jpg file on the TV. Then, to finish, I downloaded the last Ventoy .tar.gz file (ventoy-1.0.84-linux.tar.gz) and applied a sha256sum on it. With Ventoy GUI - this in the sub-directories of Ventoy 1.0.84, I re-installed Ventoy on the USB stick and re-loaded the ISO files. Success!
d52fr French translation team