29 Jul
2018
29 Jul
'18
3:25 p.m.
I've started a new thread for my part at the end, because I get into stuff
that may not be strictly relevant to immediate question.
On Sunday 29 July 2018 05:11:57 E. Liddell wrote:
On Sat, 28 Jul 2018 11:56:12 -0500
Michael <mb_trinity_desktop(a)inet-design.com> wrote:
Agreed here. I was using the 'Buntus up until about a year or two ago, then
made the transition to Debian, and now to Devuan. I might eventually make it
into Slackware, Gentoo, ArchLinux, or something like that; but I do want to
have a life outside my computer, and time enough left to complete a few big
projects before I die.
Hi All,
I’m running Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS, Trusty Tahr with TDE as my only desktop
installed. I do have some Gnome (and probably KDE) odds and ends
programs installed as well.
I’ll also agree I’m pretty much a Luddite and have no desire for anything
on my box talking to anyone on the Internet without my knowledge and
express permission.
tl:dr
Q1: How do you find phone home services?
Q2: How do you remove them?
Q3: If Ubuntu isn’t it, what is?
I went to Ubuntu (from CentOS) a couple years ago because it’s suppose to
be ‘easier’ and it does do multimedia much better, but it doesn’t really
seem to concern itself with customer ‘privacy.’
And that is where you shot yourself in the foot. Greater ease-of-use
always ends up meaning less control of what's installed when it comes to
Linux, and Ubuntu is notorious for its relative lack of concern with
privacy.
You would be better off with almost any other distribution--baseline Debian
(or Devuan) would probably be easiest to transition to, because it uses the
same package management tools. Also, there are a lot of people on here
using those distros, which means you have an excellent source of advice at
your fingertips.
Amen! Preach!
Evolution is one of those crappy packages that will not go away. Even in a
Debian/Devuan system, it sometimes gets installed with other packages if
you're not keeping a close watch, but it's easier to get rid of, once you get
out of the Ubuntu family.
If you want control over your own system, then it means more work on your
part. Running a system like this can be sort of like taking care of a pet,
and demanding a little more attention than a cat or dog. I, too, would
recommend Debian to start (which is *almost* like Ubuntu), then move onto
harder stuff.
This is not specific to the question of the thread, but you can block "call
home" software by taking a few steps:
1. Disable ipv6. (I'll give links and instructions, if anybody is interested.)
Enable it again once you learn how to get more control over those
connections, and a firewall that can deal with it.
2. Use a firewall that allows you to disable unnecessary outbound ports. (I
only enable 443, 465, 995, 8118, 9050 and 9051.)
3. Watch for strange connections, and when you see them, get their IP address,
track down its owner, then block all IP addresses belonging to that entity.
4. Route everything possible over Tor. (The package tork-trinity makes this
much easier.) Disable DNS requests by using Socks 5; get your settings right
for Tor and Privoxy, and save the config files.
After awhile, I don't see these connections any more, except after a fresh
system reinstallation. I try to save all my settings, though, so that I can
keep my system clean of crappy "call-home" software.
You still need to track down those packages in your system (which can be a lot
like prying off leeches); but by taking such steps as these, you can at least
minimize their effect.
Bill
Q3) In the event this can’t be done in Ubuntu,
is there a TDE supported
*nix variation that may be ‘harder,’ but doesn’t just add a bunch of
anti-privacy crap willy nilly?
I guess I don’t really mind going back to (re)compiling things on each OS
up-rev (libre, gimp, etc...), but it is a bit of a pita if there’s an
alternative...
How much control do you need? How much work are you willing to deal with?
In order of increasing control (but also increasing work), you could move
to:
1. Debian, Devuan, or any other *non-commercial* mainstream binary distro
that the TDE website lists as having appropriate packages. Install from a
server disk image if you can, then layer TDE and whatever else you want on
top, to reduce the number of vestigial packages from other desktop
environments.
2. Arch Linux is a rolling-update distro (so you shouldn't have to
reinstall everything ever, unless you really screw something up) that
offers a higher level of customization at the cost of requiring more
command-line use. I'm not sure of the current status of TDE on Arch, but
there used to be packages for it.
3. Gentoo Linux is also a rolling-update distro, but it distributes source
code rather than precompiled packages. This allows an even higher level of
configurability—all optional package features can be turned off—at the cost
of having to manage everything from the command line. The package manager
takes care of the compile-install cycle for you once it knows what it needs
to do (I generally let it run overnight). Not all TDE packages are
available for Gentoo (and none of those that are, are official), but
user-made packages for the base desktop plus several of the other programs
do exist.
4. Linux From Scratch. Enough said. Even I'm not that crazy.
E. Liddell