What is truly needed for the OS to become a more useful, implementable, while staying secure OS is that there must be a lot more money donated to develop and test Qubes. (guessing here, I don’t actually know what the developers feel or think.)
Those in the best position to donate: Then the groups which must choose to use Qubes needs to be individuals, or companies who need the security features for Qubes. Business People. Bankers. Lawyers (gag). Financial sector. Sales People. People who handle the inventories and livelihoods of business companies. There was a recent news story about our local Regional hospital/clinic chain being hacked. Not just records stolen, but the system of medical information being unusable for patients already in Hospital, waiting in clinics. The cyber Security experts in the hospital, need to be using Qubes OS as a desktop, even if Qubes is not implemented throughout the entire hospital system.
While Journalists may say they need a secure OS, a lot of News Organizations are either owned by rich powerful interest groups. And the group of Investigative Journalists who are more likely amateurs, ordinary people who see wrongdoing, and speak about their experiences on Social Media, Blogs. Actually that does not require high security, because they have already taken the risk.
Those who want to be Confidential Informants to the rest of this world, should confine themselves to end to end encryption. Tails being one hope that it is secure. Consider though, If you want to give information to a news organization, it must effect their interest, by making them money. Or it is like reporting to the government that a company is cheating on a contract.
Some where. Money must be the driving motive in any one caring about the report of a Confidential Informant.
If an authoritarian government, kills so many of its citizens in six months. That is barely a foot note. Even if the government admits the executions, and then claims it is due process of law, or an accident. (such as: Person was in custody and somehow managed to die. Not the will of the government) Still it is, in today’s’ world, only a footnote that is less important than what dress was worn by what movie star. Or the big musician getting a divorce.
It is about money. Either Qubes OS gets better, or it is only a toolkit for a bunch of fan boys (girls are especially welcome in the club)… But Qubes does not become easier to use. Developers need money for their efforts. I am sure they have lives, families. Money can make life easier for them, and solve problems which otherwise take up the personal hours of those who keep Qubes current. I am guessing that our current group experts, know of very competent people who could contribute, but, they need to be paid, they need hardware.
I did not use the words, beginner or newbie, to Qubes OS was a good term for someone who was successful in business. I feel sure, most of those experienced in using Qubes a little, already know which computers, in their environment can be acquired at a fairly low dollar cost. I want to see the entry to Qubes as easy as possible.
I suspect many come here just being curious. Some feel they must have the most secure possible setup, (I am sure many would say, how the user uses the OS is as important. As they say, in the old days of code breaking, (when code breaking was easier to do) codes are often broken in practice, not in theory.
Today, “Social Hacks,” and malware make it possible to steal passwords to encryption programs, which mathematicians say are unbreakable. “Operational Security” being as important as the equipment and OS one uses.
My point being, some come here, feeling: I have to get a computer that is as safe as possible, Firmware as much as OS. Leaving them to either want to buy the Qubes Certified Computers, or learn to hardware flash a laptop.
I wanted an easy hardware list for a business person to more easily grasp how to handle Qubes. Someone, unlike me, (I am really financially poor)
After they grasp the basic concept of spinning up a Qube to get a whole new clean, malware free OS, to work with. then they might move on to more expensive hardware. Some place, to keep from having to spend their own hours reading, they might pay a bounty to get have a particular third party software installed.
In my small town, I know have heard their are medical doctors whose hobby is flying small planes. Just for exhilaration. Paying hundreds of dollars for a morning or afternoon - taking a small plane out. I think there are those in the world, who are far better off financially than I am. Who might chose to experiment with Qubes, but not if the entry fee is a two thousand dollar laptop, as well as a lot of time. A three hundred dollar laptop, tolerating a bit of slowness. Hmm.
If you can suggest a better way to make the use of Qubes easier to start than that group. Please let us here from you.