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Whonix – an OS focused on anonymity, privacy and security
- msla 3y agoSo it's a Debian-based Linux distro with some configuration work done. I wish they'd simply summarize what it is.
- WolfeReader 3y agoOne of the first and most notable links on the page is labeled "Learn What Is Whonix?". You should read it.
- msla 3y agoIt has a lot of promotional material and little meat. Also: > Learn What Is Whonix? I certainly hope the people behind this distribution have better English than that. I also hope they're better mannered than you are, and much better informed.
- WolfeReader 3y agoI know you were trying to be insulting in order to "win" our miniscule internet argument. However, since my post does not demonstrate bad manners or a lack of informed-ness, your comment doesn't land, and instead makes you look petty. Just letting you know!
- hollerith 3y agoIt provides more privacy and security than normal Debian.
- msla 3y agoHow? They fail to say, and most of what they do is just promotional garbage.
- paravirtualized 3y ago> How? They fail to say, and most of what they do is just promotional garbage. On the page that OP linked to, there's statements such as: "The Everything Tor OS - All traffic is routed through the Tor anonymity network. No exceptions. Whonix is the "All Tor Operating System"." "Cloaking your typing style - Your typing behavior can be used to identify you. Whonix prevents this with a cloak for your keystrokes." "Live Mode - Whonix offers a much requested Live Mode. After the session all data will be gone." So I don't get your point. Of course if you want to know how, in detail, you have to read the documentation. https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Documentation https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Documentation
- rvba 3y agoIs it legal to use the matrix screnshots?
- MerelyMortal 3y agoDepends on the local laws. I believe in the United States, it would fall under "Fair Use".
- neilalexander 3y agoThe website is quite dreadful, excessively verbose in some places and totally lacking in others. It took me quite a few clicks just to learn that this is effectively virtual machines with Tor but still didn't find much at-a-glance information on what the user experience is actually like. Does anyone have any experience with this?
- hxii 3y agoI thought you might be exaggerating a little bit, but... oh my, this website is quite terrible.
- pmontra 3y agoMaybe the desktop site is terrible, I didn't check, but the mobile one is fine. Nothing to call home about, just a site like a million of other sites, describing a product and providing download links. They made an uncommon effort to secure themselves with long long long legal documents.
- Run_DOS_Run 3y agoOP here. I agree with you. Web design doesn't seem to be the strength of the Whonix team.. and got worse over time. Basically, you download a Virtualbox image, import it and then have a hardened Debian VM with Xfce UI & some privacy-friendly apps like Tor browser & a crypto wallet. The internet is slow (because of Tor) & tcp-only, but sufficient for most things. Virtualbox guest extensions are included and most things work out-of-the-box.
- mike_hock 3y ago> See DOS. > See DOS run. > Run_DOS_Run!
- electroly 3y agoYou run two VMs in VirtualBox. One is a Tor gateway, the other is a workstation. Both run Whonix and are preconfigured for this. A virtual network between them is set up so that the workstation can only access the Internet via the Tor gateway VM, so it's impossible for connections to "leak" directly to the Internet without going over Tor. The gateway VM runs in the background and you run a regular browser in the workstation VM. https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Whonix-Gateway https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Whonix-Gateway https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Whonix-Workstation https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Whonix-Workstation
- baz00 3y agoWeb site looks like it's trying to sell me some shitty VPN software I don't need.
- paravirtualized 3y agoQuite the opposite, they're quite adamant about only using free (as in freedom) and in this case, beer, software. And denounce the usage of VPNs at every opportunity. ;)
- runeofdoom 3y agoSo they really want you to use Tor - where the fact that you are connecting to a Tor node is extremely obvious, and flags you as a being part of the fractional percentage of internet users who do so - but don't want you to use a VPN, the use of which, while still not exactly baseline, is increasingly common? That may give you privacy, but it hardly seems like it makes you anonymous. Rather, wouldn't that send up a giant beacon for anyone at your ISP who cares to look at connections they (or the authorities) might want to pay more attention to?
- costco 3y agoYou can run a VPN on the host, or you can use a bridge on the VM if you want to minimize the probability of your ISP knowing you're using Tor.
- paravirtualized 3y ago> where the fact that you are connecting to a Tor node is extremely obvious Yes, additionally, it has been concluded that it is impossible to hide the usage of Tor from the ISP, VPNs do not help. The usage of Tor is obvious. > but don't want you to use a VPN If you can't use Tor safely, it would be unlikely that you can use a VPN safely either. > That may give you privacy, but it hardly seems like it makes you anonymous. What makes you say that? There are millions of Tor users connected at any time, if you believe the number of users is an issue. I suggest you read more about Tor on their website - https://torproject.org https://torproject.org > Rather, wouldn't that send up a giant beacon for anyone at your ISP who cares to look at connections they (or the authorities) might want to pay more attention to? No, I don't believe so granted that you live in a western democracy.
- f1shy 3y agoThe OS is focused on privacy... at the foot page there is a legend: "By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms of Service, and E-Sign Consent." I clicked in "more information" and was directed to a long page with small print, where you have to navigate to different policies (which remain somewhat hidden if you are not careful) ... Really?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- skyyler 3y agoI found the terms of service page to be fantastic. Easier to understand than most I see.
- coldblues 3y agoThe website is fine. Please don't detract from the topic. Whonix is unanimously considered the best Linux distribution in terms of privacy and security. You can also run it in Qubes OS. It's intended to run on Virtualbox for now. One VM is for network access, while the other one is connected to the previous VM for said network access, and it's the one you should use. This is to prevent any de-anonymization attacks.
- nostril 3y agoIndeed. For anyone who isn't convinced, I wrote up some details on our use case (creating a training data DMCA safe haven) in the Tails thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37512147 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37512147 If you're serious about protecting yourself, Whonix is a requirement.
- musicale 3y ago> Whonix is unanimously considered the best Linux distribution in terms of privacy and security "Unanimously?" By whom?
- pmarreck 3y agoThe anonymous authority, of course! ;)
- heywoodlh 3y ago*Unonymously
- ehvatum 3y agoBy the ones doing the considering. We get together every spring in Lucern to revise the Book of Considerations.
- paravirtualized 3y ago> "Unanimously?" By whom? By anyone who has read and understood the technical design pages.[1][2][3] [1]: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Technical_Introduction https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Technical_Introduction [2]: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Threat_Model https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Threat_Model [3]: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Comparison_with_Others https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Comparison_with_Others
- dooglius 3y agoMore technical overview at https://www.whonix.org/wiki/About https://www.whonix.org/wiki/About
- taway1237 3y agoWhonix is great. I use it all the time in my dayjob. I write a lot of scripts that have to interact with criminal (malware c&c, phishing website, etc) infrastructure, including APT analysis. You don't want to make an opsec fail and/or leak your IP in a situation like this. Instead of doing something fragile and error-prone, like being careful to use a proxy all the time in my code, having a VPN, etc, I just run everything in Whonix and sleep well at night.
- hardwarephreak 3y agoWhat if your Whonix has an APT installed now?
- ThePowerOfFuet 3y agoWhonix is also included in Qubes OS, so good luck establishing persistence given that it's a disposable template.
- halJordan 3y agoYou just sit there as your buddy says, "Well i guess they deserve that win."
- msla 3y agoHey, the brand new account has a glowing review! This is certainly not promotional!
- BxGyw2 3y agoYeah I agree mate the brand new account should be accusing OP of advertising a software that is already well known and widespread
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- beardog 3y agoWhonix when used via Qubes DispVMs is more effective than Tails in my opinion (better protection against IP leaking), unless your goal is mainly the amnesic aspect.
- d1lanka 3y ago> Whonix when used via Qubes DispVMs is more effective than Tails in my opinion (better protection against IP leaking), unless your goal is mainly the amnesic aspect. It's a matter of convenience. Your setup is far more complicated for a non-technical activist or journalist Vs. Tails.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- adultSwim 3y agoWhonix + Qubes is a treasure
- Robspierre 3y agoHow do you run both? Or is this one as a VM within the other?
- 3np 3y agoQubesOS comes with Whonix VM templates configured by default. Typical configuration would be one Whonix-Gateway to connect to Internet via Tor and one or more Whonix Worstations. https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Qubes https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Qubes
- adultSwim 3y agoInstall Qubes and it will give you an easy option to install Whonix. Out of the box Qubes supports Debian, Fedora, and Whonix very well. If the Qubes installer works on your hardware, the setup is a breeze. Qubes does have a bit of a learning curve, but largely non-technical (separating activities out into different VMs, and installing software onto a template instead of directly in the VM)
- 1shooner 3y agoThis is really a missed opportunity for a penguin-colored owl mascot.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Robspierre 3y agoIs it me or the install process to USB is absurdly complex?
- fmajid 3y agoUse Qubes OS (which includes Whonix), it's very straightforward to install.
- replwoacause 3y agoDoes not work on arm
- thatxliner 3y agoHow does this compare to Tails (https://tails.net/ https://tails.net/)
- paravirtualized 3y agoSee these posts - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37509560#37511890 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37509560#37511890