reply on: What is your favourite Linux distribution, and why? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

20 sats \ 5 replies \ @petertodd 18 Feb 2023 \ parent \ on: What is your favourite Linux distribution, and why? bitcoin

This!

Though re: hardware, I haven't personally run into any issues with unsupported hardware in the past few years. The virtualization functionality that Qubes needs is widely available in modern desktops and laptops. Maybe if you had a really cheap one you'd run into issues.

The main annoyance re: hardware is that Qubes does want a lot of RAM due to the fact it's running multiple different OS's in parallel. The 8GB laptops many vendors want to sell you aren't really enough. 16GB is a good start; my laptop has 32GB and my desktop 64GB.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @richnost 18 Feb 2023

Thanks, @petertodd!

I agree that 16GB is the floor.

I should have pointed out that Qubes virtualizing all the things wont be squeezing every ounce of performance out of the machine, but even mid-range laptops are serviceable. Recently installed on a Thinkpad with 6th gen Core i5 and 16GB of RAM, and it's running relatively well. Cold starting a disposable browsing session takes about 20 seconds (R4.1.1).

Re:Re: hardware, cheap laptops are my jam lol. Seriously, tho, of the handful of laptops I own, every one of them had some sort of Qubes suspend/wake or wifi issue that required troubleshooting. Referring to the HCL and the forums, prior to install, has been my most prudent predictor of success.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @JustinGoldberg 18 Feb 2023

Thanks!

I have not used Qubes but I have used xcp-ng (newest xen) in a production environment. I do know that the nsa has recommended for gov agencies to not use vms for the most secure systems as the vm guests can potentially attack each other's memory. I'll look into Qubes to see how it protects the guests from each other.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @richnost 18 Feb 2023

I believe the argument goes that Xen hypervisor bare-betal virtualization is a much smaller attack surface than a hypervisor hosted by an operating system reliant upon constant administrative patching and hardening.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @JustinGoldberg 18 Feb 2023

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2 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinosphere 18 Feb 2023

Yep, I'm using 32 GB here, and have had to increase the memory allotment for my main qubes under settings->advanced many times. What's your biggest qube set to?

My main aggravation with it (being a noob) is local network. I have a NAS and a couple of RasPis that I use a lot, as well as other SATA drives on the same PC that all have to be found and mounted in different ways. Do you know of a quick way to do those or some kind of guide for interaction with them? Cheers.