I like Qubes OS so much that now I only have one computer (plus a spare one in case) and I use it both at work and for my personal business. Of course I look like a paranoid but what people don’t know is that in reality I’m rather maniacal and with Qos everything is in its place as I like it .
Sometimes I wonder if my choice is judicious because contrary to many of you, I remain an intermediate computer scientist (fortunately there is always a solution somewhere in case of problem).
So I’d like to know where Qos stands between Debian stable and Debian experimental for example and if many of you have jumped to Qos and are eating it at every meal?
I know that Q OS has a deservedly strong reputation for security; however, one of the surprising results for me is how much the color coding around appVMs improved my efficiency at work. Because of how I chose to create my containers - communications, office, sensitive, and so on, my ability to resume a parked task was enhanced. So was finding what I needed in a mess of accumulated windows.
This is another reason why I feel that Qubes is the OS of choice for me.
That’s quite an interesting point, because, yes of course, Qubes is just giving me a feeling of control about my digital life that I have not had in years.
However, at work we have stopped using Windows in Qubes years ago. It has somehow never felt natural and problems kept arising. So we just started taking the compartmentalization aspect out of Qubes and into several physical machines. For office (read: Microsoft Office) tasks we have separate virtual machines that we can connect to remotely (of course using Qubes as RDP client). For some tasks I use a dedicated Windows Laptop, for others, I have an installation of Kali Linux on an external SSD.
At home, I absolutely love Qubes and all its advantages as my main OS. However, I still have a Windows PC for gaming. Recently, I took a training where I had to use a prepared Linux VM. I just installed that one on another host OS. Yes, I probably could have figured out how to convert a VMware image into a Qubes VM and get it working, it simply would have been more complicated.
To me, that does not mean that Qubes is in any way less useful, it is just not the single most useful tool for every task. When I realized that, it was actually sort of liberating and improved my usage of Qubes. I don’t need to make everything work and get frustrated over seemingly unsolvable issues, focussing on what is hard with Qubes. I can just use another OS, come back later and enjoy its strengths.
Same as deeplow.
Was a Windows fanboy over the years with little experiences of Linux knowing. Now after one year, I wouldn’t go back. It’s the future, and if not, then somethings similar…
I find the ability to be able to manipulate the operating system in a VM without having to worry about messing things up to be the biggest advantage of Qubes. It’s even more of a benefit to me than the security, to me.
You never know what a random installation script will do, so just leaving it a playground of its own is very comfortable. Most of the time I’m not even concerned that it’ll be doing something bad, it’s just that I want to be sure it’s not doing something that I’m not in control of.
I have a Windows VM (well, more than knew actually) installed but I don’t use them much. Most Windows activity is done through a VM that runs Remmina to connect to a Windows VM at work. It’s even more responsive than a VM running Windows so I’m quite happy with this setup.
Like many others, the only issue I have is the lack of GPU support, which makes things like Android development tricky, and means one has to keep at least one more computer available for these use cases. Perhaps at some point in the future we’ll see virtualised GPU’s and we’ll finally have no need for a second computer.
I use Qubes OS for everything and all the time. Basically any x86 machine, that I own or am entitled to use, runs Qubes.
Honestly I do not feel comfortable using anything else anymore. ‘Ordinary’ Linux desktops just feel like driving a car that has no seat belts; it is possible but feels weird if you are used to it.
Its one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had, as a timeline I guess its like this:
Getting graphics going in my own games in BASIC on a VIC-20 in 84 or something
First time seeing X86 with a terminal window appearing on a Suse install in 98
Taming WIN98 inside VMware around 2000, worked as a graphics designer and finally got around all its limitations that way (Could just reset the whole thing every time something broke down)
Getting started with OSX in 2000, finally getting rid of the Windows menace, running that as a platform with almost no serious problems at all until now
Finally migrating to Qubes the past weeks & now getting ready to ditch OSX as well
Already ordered another old Thinkpad & started cleaning out my 27 Imac, Will probably see if I can get Qubes installed on that too, but selling it might be the best option for doing a clean break.
The main philosophy behind Qubes is what really works for me, I’ve already tried to “sort out” my different modes & tasks online for years, but its just too cumbersome running several machines and/or Virtualbox VMs and so on.
Now I can easily read and even comment on news here in Asia, roam around in forums that should be compartmentalised, deal with cryptos as well as maintaining an “official” presence online
Also it gives me a good chance to start cleaning up & deleting what is already registered about me, perhaps using GDPR to nuke some of it later on. Just takes a LOT of time with years of registering accounts and services in a few tech fields. Now I can just set up Qubes for the “spheres” of activity that I want to separate & keep going at it all in one install!
The privacy features are of course a main part of this, security is less so for me personally - I’ve got no adversaries that I know or, nor do I need to hide anything.
But I do value my online privacy a LOT, and Qubes is the perfect tool for that
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