It takes a lot of [people](contributors.md) and [work](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pulse/monthly) to keep Privacy Guides up to date and spreading the word about privacy and mass surveillance. If you like what we do, consider getting involved by [editing the site](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org) or [contributing translations](https://crowdin.com/project/privacyguides).
Unfortunately, Open Collective Foundation (our long-time fiscal host) announced they are dissolving their operations and can no longer support us or any project they host. Thus, we have no way to accept donations at this time. We are looking into ways to move forward from a legal perspective, but in the meantime any non-monetary contribution you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Currently, the best way to support our work is to send a monthly or one-time contribution via GitHub Sponsors. We will be able to accept donations via alternate payment platforms very soon.
</div>
[:material-heart:{ .pg-red } Sponsor us on GitHub](https://github.com/sponsors/privacyguides){ class="md-button md-button--primary" }
We are also working with our fiscal host to receive cryptocurrency donations, at the moment the accounting is unfeasible for many smaller transactions, but this should change in the near future. In the meantime, if you still wish to make a cryptocurrency donation, please reach out to [jonah@privacyguides.org](mailto:jonah@privacyguides.org) to arrange a transaction.
## Merchandise
Another option to support us is by buying our merchandise from HelloTux. We get a small commission for each item sold, and you get a quality product to show for it.
[Buy on HelloTux.com](https://hellotux.com/privacyguides){ class="md-button" }
Thank you to all those who support our mission! :heart:
## How We Use Donations
Privacy Guides is a **non-profit** organization. We use donations for a variety of purposes, including:
@@ -37,4 +38,6 @@ Privacy Guides is a **non-profit** organization. We use donations for a variety
: We occasionally purchase products and services for the purposes of testing our [recommended tools](../tools.md).
We are still working with our fiscal host (the Open Collective Foundation) to receive cryptocurrency donations, at the moment the accounting is unfeasible for many smaller transactions, but this should change in the future. In the meantime, if you wish to make a sizable (> $100) cryptocurrency donation, please reach out to [jonah@privacyguides.org](mailto:jonah@privacyguides.org).
Your donation will go to a dedicated fund within [MAGIC Grants](https://magicgrants.org/), a 501(c)(3) organization. The funds will only be used for this project specifically. You may qualify for a tax deduction. If you need a donation receipt, please email <info@magicgrants.org>.
Thank you to all those who support our mission! :material-heart:{ .pg-red }
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ Brave's Web3 features can potentially add to your browser fingerprint and attack
#### Brave Rewards and Wallet
**Brave Rewards** lets you recieve Basic Attention Token (BAT) cryptocurrency for performing certain actions within Brave. It relies on a custodial account and KYC from a select number of providers. We do not recommend BAT as a [private cryptocurrency](cryptocurrency.md), nor do we recommend using a [custodial wallet](advanced/payments.md#other-coins-bitcoin-ethereum-etc), so we would discourage using this feature.
**Brave Rewards** lets you recieve Basic Attention Token (BAT) cryptocurrency for performing certain actions within Brave. It relies on a custodial account and KYC from a select number of providers. We do not recommend BAT as a [private cryptocurrency](cryptocurrency.md), nor do we recommend using a [custodial wallet](advanced/payments.md#wallet-custody), so we would discourage using this feature.
**Brave Wallet** operates locally on your computer, but does not support any private cryptocurrencies, so we would discourage using this feature as well.
description: Linux is an open-source, privacy-focused desktop operating system alternative, but not all distribitions are created equal.
---
**Linux** is an open-source, privacy-focused desktop operating system alternative. In the face of pervasive telemetry and other privacy-encroaching technologies in mainstream operating systems, Linux desktop has remained the clear choice for people looking for total control over their computers from the ground up.
**Linux** is an open-source, privacy-focused desktop operating system alternative. In the face of pervasive telemetry and other privacy-encroaching technologies in mainstream operating systems, desktop Linux has remained the clear choice for people looking for total control over their computers from the ground up.
Our website generally uses the term “Linux” to describe **desktop** Linux distributions. Other operating systems which also use the Linux kernel such as ChromeOS, Android, and Qubes OS are not discussed on this page.
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ There are some notable privacy concerns with Linux which you should be aware of.
- Avoid telemetry that often comes with proprietary operating systems
- Use privacyfocused systems such as [Whonix](https://whonix.org) or [Tails](https://tails.net)
- Use privacy-focused systems such as [Whonix](../desktop.md#whonix) or [Tails](../desktop.md#tails)
### Open-Source Security
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ Not all Linux distributions are created equal. Our [Linux recommendation page](.
We highly recommend that you choose distributions which stay close to the stable upstream software releases, often referred to as rolling release distributions. This is because frozen release cycle distributions often don’t update package versions and fall behind on security updates.
For frozen distributions such as [Debian](https://debian.org/security/faq#handling), package maintainers are expected to backport patches to fix vulnerabilities rather than bump the software to the “next version” released by the upstream developer. Some security fixes [do not](https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.14565) receive a [CVE ID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Vulnerabilities_and_Exposures) (particularly less popular software) at all and therefore do not make it into the distribution with this patching model. As a result minor security fixes are sometimes held back until the next major release.
For frozen distributions such as [Debian](https://debian.org/security/faq#handling), package maintainers are expected to backport patches to fix vulnerabilities rather than bump the software to the “next version” released by the upstream developer. Some security fixes [do not](https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.14565) receive a [CVE ID](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Vulnerabilities_and_Exposures) (particularly less popular software) at all and therefore do not make it into the distribution with this patching model. As a result, minor security fixes are sometimes held back until the next major release.
We don’t believe holding packages back and applying interim patches is a good idea, as it diverges from the way the developer might have intended the software to work. [Richard Brown](https://rootco.de/aboutme) has a presentation about this:
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ If you require suspend-to-disk (hibernation) functionality, you will still need
We recommend using a desktop environment that supports the [Wayland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_(display_server_protocol)) display protocol, as it was developed with security [in mind](https://lwn.net/Articles/589147). Its predecessor ([X11](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System)) does not support GUI isolation, which allows any window to [record, log, and inject inputs in other windows](https://blog.invisiblethings.org/2011/04/23/linux-security-circus-on-gui-isolation.html), making any attempt at sandboxing futile. While there are options to do nested X11 such as [Xpra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xpra) or [Xephyr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xephyr), they often come with negative performance consequences, and are neither convenient to set up nor preferable over Wayland.
Fortunately, [wayland compositors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_(protocol)#Wayland_compositors) such as those included with [GNOME](https://gnome.org) and [KDE Plasma](https://kde.org) now have good support for Wayland along with some other compositors that use [wlroots](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wlroots/wlroots/-/wikis/Projects-which-use-wlroots), (e.g. [Sway](https://swaywm.org)). Some distributions like Fedora and Tumbleweed use it by default, and some others may do so in the future as X11 is in [hard maintenance mode](https://phoronix.com/news/X.Org-Maintenance-Mode-Quickly). If you’re using one of those environments it is as easy as selecting the “Wayland” session at the desktop display manager ([GDM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Display_Manager), [SDDM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Desktop_Display_Manager)).
Fortunately, [Wayland compositors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_(protocol)#Wayland_compositors) such as those included with [GNOME](https://gnome.org) and [KDE Plasma](https://kde.org) now have good support for Wayland along with some other compositors that use [wlroots](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wlroots/wlroots/-/wikis/Projects-which-use-wlroots), (e.g. [Sway](https://swaywm.org)). Some distributions like Fedora and Tumbleweed use it by default, and some others may do so in the future as X11 is in [hard maintenance mode](https://phoronix.com/news/X.Org-Maintenance-Mode-Quickly). If you’re using one of those environments it is as easy as selecting the “Wayland” session at the desktop display manager ([GDM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Display_Manager), [SDDM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Desktop_Display_Manager)).
We recommend **against** using desktop environments or window managers that do not have Wayland support, such as Cinnamon (default on Linux Mint), Pantheon (default on Elementary OS), MATE, Xfce, and i3.
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ Most Linux distributions will automatically install updates or remind you to do
Some distributions (particularly those aimed at advanced users) are more bare bones and expect you to do things yourself (e.g. Arch or Debian). These will require running the "package manager" (`apt`, `pacman`, `dnf`, etc.) manually in order to receive important security updates.
Additionally, some distributions will not download firmware updates automatically. For that you will need to install [`fwupd`](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fwupd).
Additionally, some distributions will not download firmware updates automatically. For that, you will need to install [`fwupd`](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Fwupd).
## Privacy Tweaks
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ There are other system identifiers which you may wish to be careful about. You s
- **Hostnames:** Your system's hostname is shared with the networks you connect to. You should avoid including identifying terms like your name or operating system in your hostname, instead sticking to generic terms or random strings.
- **Usernames:** Similarly, your username is used in a variety of ways across your system. Consider using generic terms like "user" rather than your actual name.
- **Machine ID:**: During installation a unique machine ID is generated and stored on your device. Consider [setting it to a generic ID](https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/guides/linux-hardening.html#machine-id).
- **Machine ID:** During installation, a unique machine ID is generated and stored on your device. Consider [setting it to a generic ID](https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/guides/linux-hardening.html#machine-id).
### System Counting
@@ -152,4 +152,4 @@ The Fedora Project [counts](https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/DNF_Better_Co
This [option](https://dnf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/conf_ref.html#options-for-both-main-and-repo) is currently off by default. We recommend adding `countme=false` to `/etc/dnf/dnf.conf` just in case it is enabled in the future. On systems that use `rpm-ostree` such as Silverblue, the countme option is disabled by masking the [rpm-ostree-countme](https://fedoramagazine.org/getting-better-at-counting-rpm-ostree-based-systems) timer.
openSUSE also uses a [unique ID](https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Statistics) to count systems, which can be disabled by deleting the `/var/lib/zypp/AnonymousUniqueId` file.
openSUSE also uses a [unique ID](https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Statistics) to count systems, which can be disabled by emptying the `/var/lib/zypp/AnonymousUniqueId` file.
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Consider using a [VPN](vpn.md) or [Tor](tor.md) if your threat model requires hi
**Brave Search** is a search engine developed by Brave. The index is optimized against Google Search and therefore may provide more contextually accurate results compared to other alternatives.
Brave Search includes unique features such as [Discussions](https://search.brave.com/help/discussions), which highlights conversation-focused results—such as forum posts.
Brave Search includes unique features such as [Discussions](https://search.brave.com/help/discussions), which highlights conversation-focused resultssuch as forum posts.
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ Brave Search includes unique features such as [Discussions](https://search.brave
</div>
Note that if you use Brave Search while logged in to a Premium account, it may make it easier for Brave to correlate queries with specific users.
We recommend you disable [Anonymous usage metrics](https://search.brave.com/help/usage-metrics) as it is enabled by default and can be disabled within settings.
### DuckDuckGo
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ When you are using a SearXNG instance, be sure to go read their privacy policy.
### Minimum Requirements
- Must not collect PII per their privacy policy.
- Must not allow users to create an account with them.
- Must not require users to create an account with them.
Blocking a user prevents them from interacting with repositories, such as opening or commenting on pull requests or issues. Learn more about blocking a user.
