# Which desktop operating system(s) do you use? **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/which-desktop-operating-system-s-do-you-use/14245 **Category:** Off Topic **Created:** 2023-10-03T23:52:28Z **Posts:** 26 ## Post 1 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-03T23:52:28Z _Poll: Poll (view on site)_ In the spirit of [this related poll](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/which-mobile-operating-system-are-you-using/14134), it is also interesting to see what desktop OSes are the most used by the members of this forum. Operating systems in the poll are sorted by their market share. Linux and ChromeOS have ∼the same market share as of now; the figure varies depending on the source, but ChromeOS usually has a higher market share. P. S.: January 28th is [Data Privacy Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Day) --- ## Post 2 by @iustitia — 2023-10-04T03:49:30Z Even though it’s often categorized as such, [Qubes OS isn’t a linux distro](https://www.qubes-os.org/faq/#is-qubes-just-another-linux-distribution). Would it fall under _Linux_ or _Other_ in this poll? --- ## Post 3 by @j9cc4 — 2023-10-04T04:30:09Z Since the debian and fedora that run inside the QubesOS VMs _are_ linux distributions, I ticked both “linux” and “other”. --- ## Post 4 by @anon28734771 — 2023-10-04T04:44:48Z I use two GNU/Linux distributions. Gentoo musl hardened most of the time, and openSUSE’s MicroOS is always ready to be used when I need a distribution that just works. --- ## Post 5 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-04T09:27:52Z I saw a couple of times that some say that Qubes isn’t Linux. Others say that Qubes _is_ Linux. I disagree with the former. Qubes is very very much Linux-y, and a lot of things around it and in it are Linux-y. I would certainly say that Qubes falls under `Linux`. --- ## Post 6 by @iustitia — 2023-10-04T14:06:57Z I can see why some categorize it as such, and Qubes OS usage certainly does include using Linux distros inside VMs. However, the Qubes devs explicitly say that it is not a Linux distro, and I don’t see a reason to go against their word. > If you really want to call it a distribution, then it’s more of a “Xen distribution” than a Linux one. --- ## Post 7 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-04T14:32:48Z I wanted to say something on that in my previous message, but I thought “the shorter the better” and omitted it. I meant that Qubes OS is… let’s say — it’s an OS from the Linux family of OSes. I wouldn’t call it a _Linux distribution_, sure, I agree with that. But Qubes OS _is_ a Linux-y thing, to put it simply. It is very much “soaked” in all Linux-y things. A lot of Linux-related technical things are baked into it (not going to list them all here). Qubes OS isn’t specifically a Linux distro, but it’s an OS that belongs to the Linux category. --- ## Post 8 by @outage — 2023-10-04T14:35:21Z Hardened Fedora Silverblue --- ## Post 9 by @iustitia — 2023-10-04T15:15:51Z That makes sense, thanks for elaborating:) To get back on topic, I use openSUSE Aeon (MicroOS) in combination with Tails. I struggled for a long time with deciding which one would be the best out of all available options that exist as daily driver OS for desktop devices. Fundamentally, I think the best approaches come from Arch Linux, Chrome OS and Qubes OS. However, I lack the time or knowledge required for Arch, lack the money and willingness to tolerate reduced privacy required for Chrome OS, and lack the hardware required for Qubes OS. In the end, I chose openSUSE Aeon because it’s a rolling release, provides atomic updates, is immutable and has relatively good security and functionality out of the box. I think it’s one of the least bad options out of all Linux distros, and I’ll stick with it for now. If you think there’s a superior alternative, I’m always glad for suggestions. Maybe I can scrape together the money to buy a device capable of running Qubes in the future, or even a Pixel tablet to try using only GrapheneOS for my whole workflow. Until then, I wish there was something like a daily-driver version of Tails or Whonix. --- ## Post 10 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-04T17:09:34Z > [@iustitia](#): > > openSUSE Aeon [Others shared their thoughts on it.](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/opensuse-microos-desktop/12012/21) I wanted to try it, or Tumbleweed, but what gets me is the lack of official binaries from some software, such as Signal which supports only Debian-based distributions. And I don’t want to compile anything myself. --- ## Post 11 by @iustitia — 2023-10-04T17:19:20Z Yeah, that thread is pretty concerning. If they go through with removing full-disk encryption, I’ll probably leave. Regarding Signal, why not use Flatpak? --- ## Post 12 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-04T17:21:26Z > [@iustitia](#): > > Regarding Signal, why not use Flatpak? Unofficial, maintained by the Flathub community, not by the upstream :­( --- ## Post 13 by @sha123 — 2023-10-04T18:01:12Z You don’t necessarily need to compile stuff yourself. Usually it’s enough to take the binaries and dependencies and put these on your system. --- ## Post 14 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-04T21:44:35Z Isn’t that, like, a dirty trick/workaround, which can potentially cause breakages (maybe not immediately, but in the long-term) and so on? --- ## Post 15 by @xe3 — 2023-10-04T21:58:12Z I don’t think it is appropriate to call it a ‘dirty trick’ but yeah, this is not the way I would go about installing software. I think unless you really know what you are doing, and understand the pros/cons, it is almost always a better choice to let your distros package manager or some cross distro package management/distribution system like flatpak or snap manage your software. A package manager is simply more consistent, reliable, and better when it comes to managing software than most humans will be. I don’t want to have to remember to manually update a bunch of manually installed packages. For these reasons, for most people I think it is preferable to get software through your distros official repos, flatpak/snap, or directly from the developer following their recommendations if you can’t find the package in your distros official repos. --- ## Post 16 by @purplecactus — 2023-10-04T22:20:26Z I only really use Fedora for the systems I use day-to-day. Currently using both immutable/regular variants. --- ## Post 17 by @anon73250778 — 2023-10-05T04:23:57Z Linux: Primarily for work related (document typing mostly) and for email correspondence. Windows: Gaming and slight game-related browsing because I’m not so good at games. Some youtube music streaming. MacOS: Spouse uses it and because I am the device maintainer at home, I get to fix things when it breaks. I have a BSD based firewall appliance but it doesnt have a desktop interface so it doesnt count. --- ## Post 18 by @xe3 — 2023-10-05T07:00:23Z > [@outage](#): > > Hardened Fedora Silverblue Hardened in what ways? --- ## Post 19 by @outage — 2023-10-05T08:42:16Z > **[GitHub - solidc0re/solidcore-scripts: Hardening scripts for immutable Fedora](https://github.com/solidc0re/solidcore-scripts)** > > Hardening scripts for immutable Fedora --- ## Post 20 by @sha123 — 2023-10-05T09:45:19Z It’s not a dirty trick. It’s not seldomly done in this way. Look into the AUR pkgbuilds, you will find plenty who do it this way. Or how do you think porting a closed-source application to a non-officially-supported distro happens? --- ## Post 21 by @Regime6045 — 2023-10-05T12:18:29Z When you look at an app page on Flathub, you can go to Links → Manifest, which will bring you to a Github repo for the Flatpak version of the app. In there you’ll find a .yml or .json file (the “manifest”) that describes how the Flatpak is built. [This is the example for Signal.](https://github.com/flathub/org.signal.Signal/blob/7c38b8639a1ebfd5ac71b1eba0a75538252686e8/org.signal.Signal.yaml) In this case, it just downloads the .deb file from the official website and moves the files contained therein to the appropriate directories. The way to get an app on Flathub is that you make a pull request on Github containing the manifest (the aforementioned .yml or .json file) and some app metadata in an .xml file. The Flatpak file is then automatically built by the Flathub build-bot; usually from source, or in the case of proprietary software or Signal from an official binary. The pull request needs to be manually approved by one of the Flathub admins for it to appear in Flathub. So as long as you trust the Flathub maintainers in general, and don’t find anything suspicious in the app’s manifest, you should be good. --- ## Post 22 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-05T17:54:03Z > [@Regime6045](#): > > So as long as you trust the Flathub maintainers in general, and don’t find anything suspicious in the app’s manifest, you should be good. Sure, however: most users won’t check any manifests, so — there’s only trust left in that case. And manifest can be changed any time by the maintainers. It can be too late when someone takes a notice. I, personally, can’t feel 100% safe and comfy when using a Flatpak which is not maintained by the official developer(s). Or _any_ software, in general. --- ## Post 23 by @anon54160479 — 2023-10-13T18:38:02Z Ubuntu 23.10 * * * --- ## Post 24 by @sha123 — 2023-10-14T12:27:33Z > [@3QVvxrhnYZ](#): > > I, personally, can’t feel 100% safe and comfy when using a Flatpak which is not maintained by the official developer(s) Good, then you shouldn’t use Linux at all. Because the vast majority of software running on distros does not get maintained by the official developers of the software, but by some employee or some random volunteer working in their free time as a maintainer of packages of the distro you are using. --- ## Post 25 by @3QVvxrhnYZ — 2023-10-14T20:04:26Z I’m fully aware of that. I admit that I don’t like this aspect of Linux — too much is based on just trust. There is, however, almost _always_ an option to download directly from the developer. I live in a country that is in a state of a war, and I’m against this war. I fully oppose my country and I’m on the side of the country they are at war with. On Signal I occasionally discuss the war with my loved one, friends and relatives. I simply cannot afford the risk of trusting such a significant and intimate thing as a messenger (where I discuss really significant topics) — to some third-party, and not the official developer. I hope you can understand my concerns and the circumstances I’m in. I’m at a very real risk of going to jail (or worse) if someone finds out the fact that I strongly oppose all this hell my country is causing. > [@sha123](#): > > Good, No need to get passive-aggressive. --- ## Post 26 by @xe3 — 2023-10-15T05:37:54Z > [@3QVvxrhnYZ](#): > > I, personally, can’t feel 100% safe and comfy when using a Flatpak which is not maintained by the official developer(s). Or _any_ software, in general. > > ![](https://forum-cdn.privacyguides.net/user_avatar/discuss.privacyguides.net/sha123/48/14_2.png) sha123: > > > Then you shouldn’t use Linux at all. Because the vast majority of software running on distros does not get maintained by the official developers The difference is that packages from your distros official repositories _ **do** _ _get maintained by someone that you do (theoretically) trust_ (the team that develops/maintains your distro), and if you don’t trust them, you shouldn’t trust your distro in the first place. Unlike flathub (or the AUR), your distro’s official repositories are not open to submissions from anyone, they are limited to maintainers, and there is a process for becoming a maintainer. I’m sure it is far from perfect, but there is a trust model. As to flatpaks/flathub, you can see how they are build, its a little technical, but not super super technical. [Here](https://github.com/flathub/org.signal.Signal/blob/2ba12be10c253f5e7f7a85a00a96ba577b940126/org.signal.Signal.yaml) for example is the manifest for the unofficial Signal flatpak. I won’t pretend to understand everything there, but I do see that the source flatpak is built from is the .deb version of signal sourced directly from the signals website.