Linux And BSD Desktop Distributions With Support For Disk Encryption

May 15, 2013 By

Disk Encryption Is Not Something Most Personal Computer Users Think Of When They Consider Ways To Boost The Security Profile Of Their Computer. A Firewall? Yes,That In The Minds Of Most Is What Computer Security Is All About. However, A Firewall Is A Network Security Tool, And It Is Useless If Your Computer Is Lost Or Stolen. That Is When Disk Encryption Comes Into Play. And If You Truly Care About Guarding Access To Your Data, Encrypting The Hard Drive Holding It Is Just As Important As A Firewall.

So, How Does Encrypting A Hard Drive, Protect Your Data?

Well, If A Hard Drive (Or The Most Important Part Of It) Is Encrypted, The Computer Will Not Boot Completely Until The Passphrase Or Encryption Key Used To Encrypt The Hard Drive Is Specified Correctly. Even If The Hard Drive Is Removed From The Original Computer, The System Will Not Boot If The Encryption Key Is Not Specified. That Is How It Protects Your Computer (And Data) From Unauthorized Physical Access.

The First Two Images Show What Happens When A Computer With An Encrypted Disk Boots Up. This One Is From Mandriva, One Of Seven Distributions Listed In This Article.

manslvm21-550x412

And This One Is From Sabayon, Also One Of The Seven. Whether The Interface Presented Is Graphical Or Full Of A Bunch Of Text, The Effect Is The Same. Without Specifying The Encryption Key, You Cannot Login. And If Your Lose The Computer, Or Someone Steals It, Or If An Agent Of Your Government Seizes It, They Will Need The Passphrase From You To Log In. That Depends On Whether Or Not You Want To Give To Them Or Not, Is Whole Other Matter In Itself.

The Focus Of This Article Is On Distributions With Graphical Installation Programs. When Installing Such Distributions, The Installer Only Allows You To Specify One Passphrase Or Encryption Key. However, You May Configure Seven More (For A Total Of eight) After Installation. How To Manage Disk Encryption Passphrases And Key Slots, Explains How.

1. CentOS: Community ENTprise Operating System, Is A Multi-Purpose Distribution Based On Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It Uses The Anaconda Installer, Also Used On Fedora And Sabayon. It Uses LVM, The Linux Logical Volume Manager, As The Default Disk Partitioning Scheme And To Install It On An Encrypted Disk, All That Is Required Is To Select The “Encrypt System” Option At The Disk Partitioning Methods Step.

2. Debian: Is A Grand Daddy Of Linux Distributions. It Has An Automated Partitioning Mode That Encrypts A Disk When Setting Up LVM. And, Of Course, You Can Also Encrypt The Disk Without LVM.

3. Fedora: LVM Is The Default Disk Partitioning Scheme On Fedora, And Like Debian, Fedora Makes It Very Easy To Encrypt A Disk. Just Select The “Encrypt System” Option At The Disk Partitioning Methods Step And The Installer Will Encrypt The Physical Volume.

Even With The Physical Volume Encrypted, You May Also Encrypt The Logical Volumes. And Like Debian, If You Choose To Not Use LVM, You Can Still Encrypt The Target Disk.

4. Mageia: Is A Fork Of Mandriva, And Uses The Same Installation Program. Unlike Debian And Fedora, It Does Not Have An Automated Encrypted LVM Option, But You Can Still Configure Encrypted LVM Manually.

And Without LVM, You Can Still Encrypt The Disk Or Disk Partitions.

5. Mandriva: The Installation Program On Mandriva Is The Same One Used On Mageia. LVM And Non LVM Encryption Schemes Can Be Configured. Just As The Other Listed Distributions (Which May Require Root Access In Order To Be Configured)

6. PC-BSD: The Most Popular BSD Desktop Distribution, Based On Free BSD. In The Last Stable Release (PC-BSD 9.1), Individual Partitions Or Slices Can Be Configured For Encryption.

In Snapshot Releases Of PC-BSD 9, An Option At The Disk Configuration Step Provides An Automated Encryption Mode For The Configured Partitions. Unlike The Linux Distributions In This Article, PC-BSD’s Installer Can Auto Generate The Encryption Key, Besides The Option To Specify One Manually. If You Are New To PC-BSD, How To Install PC-BSD On An Encrypted ZFS File System Is A Good Article To Read.

7. Sabayon: Is A Multi Purpose Linux Distribution Based On Gentoo, But Uses A Slightly Modified Version Of Anaconda, The Installation Program On Fedora.

8. Ubuntu Alternate Installer: Ubuntu Supports Disk Encryption. However, It Is Not On The Popular Edition, That Is, The Edition With A Graphical Installer. To Install Ubuntu On An Encrypted Disk, You Will Have To Use The Alternate Installer Edition, Which Uses An Ncruses Installation Program, A Slightly Modified Version Of The Debian Ncurses Installer.

Please Note That Ubuntu No Longer Makes Alternative Distros. The Only Version That Is Still Support Is 12.04.2 Which Has Ncurses Installer.

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, Tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Alternatives To Bitcoin

April 3, 2013 By

With All Rage Surrounding Bitcoin, A Decentralized Digital Cryptocurrency That Knows No Bounds On The Real Free Market. Has Gained Lots Of Popularity Within The Last Three Weeks. Due To Instabilities In The Centralized Markets. Like The Eurozone Crisis. Which Left Crypriots Without Money In Their Bank Accounts Due To Involuntary Theft From German Banking Interests Who Over Sees The European Union’s Finances. Also Just A Side Note Apparently The Canadian Government Is Considering Bailing Out The Five Major Banks On The Dime Of The People. Using The Same Tactics Derived From The Cyprus Bailout. So Alternative Currencies For The Purposes Of Trade And Barter. Like Gold, Silver, Copper, Bitcoins, and Litecoins Doesn’t Sound Like Such A Bad Idea.

Major Alternative Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin (BTC)

  • http://bitcoin.org/
  • Blocks Every 10 Min
  • Coin Supply 21 Million Coins Will Be Available
  • Difficulty Adjustment 2016 Blocks
  • Hashing Algorithm SHA256d
  • Initial Reward 50 Coins Per Block
  • Launch Date: January 3rd, 2009

Litecoin (LTC)

  • http://litecoin.org/
  • Blocks Every 2.5 Min
  • Coin Supply 84 Million Coins Will Be Available
  • Difficulty Adjustment 2016 Blocks
  • Hashing Algorithm Scrypt
  • Initial Reward 50 Coins Per Block
  • Launch Date: October 2011

Minor Alternative Cryptocurrencies

IxCoin (IXC)

  • http://ixcoin.org/
  • (Merged Mined With BTC)
  • Blocks Every 10 min
  • Coin Supply 21 Million Coins Will Be Available
  • Difficulty Adjustment 2016 Blocks
  • Hashing Algorithm SHA1
  • Reward 96 Coins Per Block

PPCoin (PPC)

Freicoin (FRC)

Terracoin (TRC)

  • http://terracoin.org/
  • Blocks Every 2 Minutes
  • Coin Supply 42 Million Coins Will Be Available
  • Difficulty Adjustment 30 Blocks
  • Hashing Algorithm SHA-256
  • Reward 20 Coins Per Block

Liquidcoin (LQC)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Bitfetch Debuts Bitcoin Powered Anonymous Bittorrent Downloads

April 3, 2013 By

A New Privacy Conscious File Sharing Service Is Aiming To Bring The Power of Bitcoin And Bittorrent Together In One Neat Package, With Some Added Extras. Offering High Speed Remote Transfers, Bitfetch Keeps Bittorrent Users Anonymous And Helps Them Cut Through ISP Imposed Throttling Measures With Secure HTTPS Downloads. All powered by Bitcoin.

bitfetchlogo

There Are All Kinds Of Entities Looking To Clamp Down On People Using Bittorrent These Days. In Addition To Entertainment Companies And Copyright Trolls, Some ISPs Promising “Unlimited” Packages Still Feel The Need To Throttle, Interrupt Or Otherwise Hinder The World’s Favorite File Sharing Protocol. As A Result, More And More Solutions Are Coming To The Market That Aim To Give Freedom Back To File Sharers While Increasing Performance And Anonymity.

With Their Own Unique Skill Sets The Popularity Of Seedboxes And VPNs Has Grown Tremendously In Recent Years, But For Those With Slightly Different Needs There Are Alternatives. Today We Take A Look At A New Service Which Aims To Offer Performance, Security And Convenience, Backed Up By The Anonymity Of Bitcoin.

Bitfetch Is A Remote Bittorrent Downloading Service Operating Entirely Within Any Browser With No Torrent Client Needed. Since It Also Has Its Own Search Engine There Is No Need To Visit A Torrent Site Either, Meaning That Blocked Sites Are A Thing Of The Past.

bitfetch1

The Bitfetch Interface Is Clean With A Single Box Requesting One Of Three Types Of Input.

The First Option Is Simply To Enter A Search Term. We Chose TPB AFK And Were Greeted With 13 Short Pages Of Results, Conveniently Ordered By The Number Of Seeds.

Users Who Aready Have A Magnet Link In Their Clipboard Can Simply Paste It Into Bitfetch. Equally, Those Who Have A Torrent File On Their Computer Can Upload It Using The Same Tools.

Users Who Already Have A Magnet Link In Their Clipboard Can Simply Paste It Into Bitfetch. Equally, Those Who Have A Torrent File On Their Computer Can Upload It Using The Same Tools.

When ‘Fetch’ Is Clicked Bitfetch Joins The Torrent Swarm In Question And Grabs The Files Requested By The User And Stores Them On Its Own Servers. Since Users Of Bitfetch Never Enter The Bittorrent Swarm, Privacy Is Never Comprised.

Once The Files Are Stored By Bitfetch It’s Simply A Case Of Transferring Them To The Host PC. Clicking Download Brings Up A Box Which Allows The User To Have All Files Compressed Into A Convenient Single ZIP File Download. Alternatively Any Of The Files From The Original Torrent Can Be Selected To Avoid Downloading Files That Aren’t Needed.

bitfetch3

The Beauty Here Is That Downloads Take Place Over HTTPS Which Unlike Bittorrent Is Not Regularly Throttled By ISPs And Is Encrypted By Default. Just Like Any Decent Seedbox Or VPN Service, Bitfetch Costs Money To Use. Don’t Let That Put You Off Though. Bitfetch Wants Its Users To Stay As Anonymous As Possible And To This End Only Accepts Payment In Bitcoins.

Since We’re On The Subject Of Privacy It Makes Sense To Outline What Information Bitfetch Stores On Its Users. The Information Is Limited To An Account Token, Total Bytes Downloaded, Total Bitcoin Deposited And Last Date Using The Service. Torrent Hashes Are Tied To Account Tokens Only While Transfers Take Place And Are Deleted Once Complete. No IP Addresses, Browser Headers, Bitcoin Sending Addresses Or Other Data Is Saved.

Related Links

http://bitcoin.org/en/

http://bittorrent.org/

https://bitfetch.com/

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, News, Tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Valve Publishes Packages For Their Linux Distribution

April 2, 2013 By

Article Originally Mirrored From Phoronix

For Valve’s forthcoming Linux-based Steam gaming console the first packages are starting to emerge within a package repository on the SteamPowered web-server.

Valve’s “Steam Box” will likely be shipping with a customized version of Debian/Ubuntu Linux at its heart. I’ve already written some early details about their Linux-based hardware gaming console for the living room based upon details I’ve known of within this article since talking with Gabe Newell last year at Valve about their Linux plans. For months I have been saying that their software platform will likely be based upon Ubuntu, likely “Ubuntu Core” and obviously an LTS release.

Anyhow, it was tipped off to Phoronix there’s now a “hometest” Debian APT repository that has been public the past few days on the SteamPowered.com server. This repository is different from what’s found in the public/default “steam” package repository.

Their known repository just has contained the Steam and Steam Launcher packages for Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions. What’s of interest within this new “hometest” repository. The repository notes that this is for “Steam packages and updates for Steam based on Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS.

Found within the package pool are experimental NVIDIA Linux graphics drivers, a Plymouth boot splash screen for Steam, and Valve wallpapers. There’s also the Steam Linux client binary already offered to Linux gamers. A “steam-autoupdate” package is also present, which all it does is drop in a daily cron job of running the apt-get upgrade process in an automated manner.

Steam

That’s about it for now. It’s not too exciting but does continue to signal their plans for an Ubuntu/Debian base for their forthcoming hardware console. Expect more information in the coming months.

Whether Valve ends up releasing their software platform as a “Steam Linux” distribution in its own right remains to be seen, but you should be able to achieve much the same effect by simply installing Steam on Ubuntu Linux. Expect most of the Steam software experience on the console to just be self-contained within Steam’s “Big Picture” mode while being an open stack underneath for those Linux enthusiasts wishing to do some tinkering.

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Bitmessage – Decentralized Email Networking

February 21, 2013 By

Bitmessage Is A P2P Communications Protocol (Similar To That Of Bitcoin Or Bittorrent) Which Sends Encrypted Messages To Another Person Or To Many Subscribers. It Is Decentralized And Trustless, Meaning That You Need Not Inherently Trust Any Entities Like Root Certificate Authorities. It Uses Strong Authentication Which Means That The Sender Of A Message Cannot Be Spoofed, And It Aims To Hide “Non-Content” Data, Like The Sender And Receiver Of Messages, From Passive Eavesdroppers Like Those Running Warrantless Wiretapping Programs.

It Sends Messages Like A Typical Email System. Except It Doesn't Allow For Sending Photo's Or Images To Other Users

Bitmessage 4

Bitmessage 7

Bitmessage 8

Compiling Instructions Can Be Found Here Via The Bitmessage Project Page: https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Compiling_instructions

Please Note That Bitmessage Is Only Available For Linux And Windows Users At The Present Moment. However It Maybe Possible In The Coming Months That The Code Could Be Ported To For Mac OS X Users.

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pirate Box

January 30, 2013 By

Pirate Box Is A Self-Contained Mobile Communication And File Sharing Device. Simply Turn It On To Transform Any Space Into A Free And Open Communications And File Sharing Network.

Pirate Box 1

Share (And Chat) Freely Inspired By Pirate Radio And The Free Culture Movements, PirateBox Utilizes Free, Libre And Open Source Software (FLOSS) To Create Mobile Wireless Communications And File Sharing Networks Where Users Can Anonymously Chat And Share Images, Video, Audio, Documents, And Other Digital Content.

Pirate Box 2

Private And Secure PirateBox Is Designed To Be Private And Secure. No Logins Are Required And No User Data Is Logged. Users Remain Completely Anonymous The System Is Purposely Not Connected To The Internet In Order To Subvert Tracking And Preserve User Privacy.

Pirate Box 3

Easy To Use Using The PirateBox Is Easy. Simply Turn It On And Transform Any Space Into A Free Communication And File Sharing Network. Users Within Range Of The Device Can Join The PirateBox Open Wireless Network From Any Wifi Enabled Device And Begin Chatting And Sharing Files Immediately.

Pirate Box 4

DIY PirateBox Was Created By David Darts And Is Registered Under The GNU GPLv3. This License Grants The Right To Freely Copy, Distribute, And Transform Creative Works According To The Principles Of Copyleft.

FAQ

How Does It Work?

Simply Turn PirateBox On To Transform Any Space Into A Temporary Communication And Wireless File Sharing Network. When Users Join The PirateBox Wireless Network And Open A Web Browser, They Are Automatically Redirected To The PirateBox Welcome Page. Users Can Then Immediately Begin Chatting And/Or Uploading Or Downloading Files.

PirateBox Runs On Multiple Devices, Including Wireless Routers, Single-Board Computers, Laptops, And Mobile Phones.

Can I Make My Own PirateBox?

Absolutely The PirateBox Is Registered Under The GNU GPLv3. You Can Run It On An Existing Device Or Can Be Built As A Stand-Alone Device For As Little As US $35. For Detailed Instructions, Visit The PirateBox DIY Page.

Where Can I Read More About The PirateBox?

Visit The PirateBox Press Page For A Listing Of And Links To More Than 175 Stories About The PirateBox.

Where Can I Find More Photos Of The PirateBox?

Check Out The PirateBox Gallery.

Where Can I Find More Videos Of The PirateBox?

Check Out These PirateBox Videos.

Why Did You Build The PirateBox?

The PirateBox Solves A Technical/Social Problem By Providing People In The Same Physical Space With An Easy Way To Anonymously Communicate And Exchange Files. This Obviously Has Larger Cultural And Political Implications Thus The PirateBox Also Serves As An Artistic Provocation. See This Ars Technica Article And This New Scientist Article For More Info.

Why Did You Call It The PirateBox?

The PirateBox Is Inspired By The Free Culture And Pirate Radio Movements. The Name Is A Playful Remixing Of The Title Of The World’s Most Resilient Bittorrent Site, The Pirate Bay.

Does The PirateBox Promote Stealing?

No. The PirateBox Is Designed To Facilitate Communication And Sharing Between Friends And Local Community Members.

Do You Know Of Any Other Projects Similar To PirateBox?

Yes, Check Out Aram Bartholl’s Fantastic Dead Drops. Also Visit Jason Griffey’s PirateBox Fork LibraryBox.

Where Can I Discuss The PirateBox?

Visit The PirateBox Forum

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, Tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Viable Alternative To The Technological Industrial Complex

January 13, 2013 By

The Market For Linux Is Small And Is Still Relatively Unknown To The General Public, Still Even With Social Media It’s Hasn’t Reached Peak As Being A Third Market Solution For Individual Users. Unlike The Technological Industrial Complex, Which Comprises Of Names Like Microsoft And Macintosh. Have Dominated The Technology Market Since At Least Since The Early 90′s. This Trend Is Starting Slowly Fracture Do To The Persistent Efforts On The Part Of Bloggers (Like Myself) Who Refuse To See The Two Big Software Giants Continue Down This Path. As A Personal User Of Linux, An Advocate For The Development Of Open Source Software And An Occasional Developer. I’d Like To See An End To The Corporate Monopoly Of Software And Hardware. To Open It Up And Apply Free Market Principles To Equation.

Linux Desktop Vendors

Normally When You Buy A Computer At A Major Retailer, It’s Usually Preloaded With Windows Or Apple OS X. But Most Of The Time You Never See Any Other Competitors Products On The Self. And No Android Is Not An Open Source Product Like You’ve Been Made To Believe. If You Can’t Plug In Your Android Phone Or Tablet When Using A Linux PC Then It’s Not Open Source At All. Android Is A Closed Source Proprietary System Using An Open Source Framework To Sell Itself To That Particular Target Market. A Carefully Crafted Deception Made By Google Inc To Fool Users Of Open Source Software And To Them Pull Them Back Into The Corporate Monopoly Game.

System 76

System76 Is A Linux Computer Manufacturer Specializing In The Sale Of Notebooks, Desktops, And Servers With Ubuntu Preinstalled. Their Official Support Forums Are Hosted By Canonical, The Primary Developer Of Ubuntu.Founded in 2005, They Are Based In Denver, Colorado. System76 Is Well Known Amongst The Ubuntu Community And Considered A “Premium Brand”

System76 May Carry Ubuntu Linux As A Default Operating System. However You Can Have Other Makes Of Linux Installed Onto The Computer You Wish To Purchase. Like Linux Mint, Debian, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva Or Whatever Your Choice Maybe. Also Ubuntu On The Surface May Appear To Be Open Source. Considering It’s Original Development Was Based Off Of Debian Linux. But Upon Further Inspection, They Been Known To Have Strong Ties With Google Inc.

Zareason

Yet Another Linux Computer Manufacturer That’s Pretty Much On Par With System 76. They Offer The Same Products. But The Pricing Scale Is A Bit Different In Comparison To System 76. Most Of Zareason’s Products Are Actually A Little Cheaper And Made From Recycled Computer Parts.

Just A Side Note: You Can Get Ubuntu As A Default Operating System, However You Can Install What Ever Linux Operating System You Want Onto The Computer You Eventually End Up Purchasing.

Think Penguin

Think Penguin Much Like System 76 And Zareason Have Some Similarities. However The Crew At Think Penguin Go Out Of Their Way To Not Only Sell You Just Preinstalled Linux PC’s. But They Also Specialize In Selling Hardware Specific To Linux Development Like Wired And Wireless Routers, Printers Even Selling Books On How To Use Linux Properly And How To Maintain Your Linux PC Without Having To Rely Solely On Computer Repair Specialists.

Think Penguin Lets You Choose What Linux Operating System You Want. They Really Don’t Have Specific Operating Preference Like That Of Zareason Or System 76. Thought Before They We’re Openly Promoting Trisquel Linux As A Preinstalled Default Operating System. Which Is Derived From Ubuntu’s Development Branch With Some Minor Programming Differences. Trisquel Uses Real Open Source Software, Usually Supported By The Free Software Foundation.

Filed Under: Free Open Source Software, Tutorials Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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