I’m a long time Linux (popOS) user and want to switch to qubes because of security. Recently someone has been stalking me, he had listening devices in my laptop (not sure exactly how) and had hidden cameras installed in my home. Because of that I want to switch to qubes for the added security. Thankfully he doesn’t have physical access to me anymore, but he has sent viruses to me and to other people in the past.
I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on finding a new laptop that’s compatible with qubes. I’d strongly prefer it to be touchscreen, about 15 in, large SSD or one that a tech store can change, Bluetooth, WiFi and all other “basic” features. I know it might not be possible to get all of those on a laptop that’ll work well with qubes, but that’s the ideal. I also want it to have 16/32 gb of RAM so it’s fast.
If anyone can give some advice I’d really appreciate it.
Qubes is a very picky system with quite specific requirements for the hardware, which is why there are quite few perfectly working devices. HCL contains a larger number of tested devices, which were tested by the Community, with comments about how well they should work.
But there are many devices that fit the system requirements but aren’t on the list, does that mean they’re no good? Like a Lenovo slim pro I found at Costco, it meet all the requirements but isn’t on the list.
The problem is that the system requirements are necessary but not sufficient conditions. In other words, if a computer doesn’t meet the system requirements, then Qubes definitely won’t work on it, but even if a computer does meet the system requirements, Qubes might still not work on it (or some features might work, but some might not). It’s not like Windows, where every single computer model is specifically tested to make sure that all features work on it before it’s ever put up for sale. Qubes is more of a niche OS (certainly compared to the likes of Windows), so probably none of the major computer vendors (such as Lenovo) specifically test to make sure their computer models are compatible with Qubes. That’s why we have the HCL (here’s how to use it). It’s a database of test results – some good, some bad – mostly from regular users like you. That’s also why we have the Qubes-certified hardware program. Qubes-certified computers actually are guaranteed (by the Qubes developers themselves) to be compatible with Qubes OS. You might also be interested in the community-recommended hardware list, which is an unofficial list of computer models curated by this community.
If I buy a laptop that has all the requirements, I know how to test The Wi-Fi mic and camera etc., but how do I test it to make sure it supports all the security features?
I guess you need to create an HCL report for that, which you did. It shows that the required features are working fine. Only TPM is “unknown” in the report, which is needed for Anti evil maid (AEM) | Qubes OS.
Yeah, using qubes-hcl-report is the best way to check that. (Note that running qubes-hcl-report just creates a local/offline report for you. It’s always your choice whether to share it or not. Nothing is shared automatically. You have to send it manually.)