Need help with choosing a desktop OS

Privacy Questions
1

Hi, I need some help with picking a desktop OS.

Here are the things that I want in order of importance:

  1. Open-source (this one is an absolute must.)

  2. Privacy and security

  3. Reliability

  4. The ability to play games

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2

I would say the recommended traditional Linux distros on PrivacyGuides are what you are looking for. But depending on your knowledge in Linux, the command line etc., some distros are better than others. For example, for an complete Linux beginner, using Arch Linux would be a rough time. But for a advanced Linux user, who can use the command line to administrate the OS, Arch Linux could be a great choice, but maybe you don’t want to use a DIY distro like Arch.

If you want a complete and beginner-friendly Linux distro out-of-the-box, I would recommend Fedora Linux with either the GNOME DE or Plasma.

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Just go with Fedora… One could argue that is slightly more “open source”, as you can have custom remote repositories with Flatpak, something you can’t do with Snap. Flatpak is also better at permission model.

If gaming is what you want to do, then going with a mainstream distribution like that is likely going to mean its been tested.

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Is there anything that I should do while installing Fedora apart from making sure to enable encryption?

5

Not really no, about the only option is system counting, but that’s about it.

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I agree with both @gento166 and @dngray. Fedora Linux with any of the offered desktop environments (such as Plasma, GNOME, etc.; That is just a matter of state, I would say) should work well for you. Fedora has reasonable defaults. You can tweak all the details later on. I do not think there is anything special you need to do in addition to the classical process of installing Fedora Linux (if needed, look for instructions on the internet). Wish you good luck :heart:

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not entirely aligned with PG, my recommendation:
Fedora + my Brace + my unofficial packaged GrapheneOS hardened_malloc + firejail & flatseal

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Harderend malloc on fedora, im gonna toy around with this :eyes:

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I install those after I already installed Fedora?

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Yea, you can install them at any time.

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11

Can I use my FIDO2 security key when setting up encryption instead of passphrase? If yes, how?

12

I think this article can help.

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13

If you use nvidia gpu, the fedora default wayland is a bit finicky

14

Arch with KDE

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Crazy, awesome! Is there a COPR repo of it?

I would recommend Silverblue/Kinoite for the stability, but hardened kernel and malloc are not really possible. If they are, then through layering of repo-reachable RPMs, and replacing just the malloc should work well.

16

@Torsten
my packages are in my RPM repo:

sudo dnf install https://divested.dev/rpm/fedora/divested-release-20230406-2.noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install whatever
17

I tried Fedora Workstation (KDE spin) but I need something more minimal with fewer things preinstalled.

Any recommendations on that?

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Sway spin?

19

I found out that there is a way to get minimal installation of Fedora by using Fedora Everything installer.

After installing a minimal installation, I could just install KDE Plasma and everything else that I need.

Any opinions on this?

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@anon28734771
why not just use Arch at that point?

not facetious, actual question as imo Fedora is great for a largely “just works” whereas if you want to diy you’re far better suited with Arch

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