New Qubes user seeks distributions for gaming, browsing, Discord, and more

General Discussion
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Good timezone Qubes forum,
Windows refugee to Linux here. I found QubesOS, and once I understood it, I got very excited. Properly isolating processes from each other is what I am looking for to improve security and privacy :slight_smile:

I am planning what Linux distributions I will be using for each qube. Linux is not a must, but FOSS is a must
Threat model:
Big Tech profiling
Fourteen Eyes profiling
The current political trend seems to be towards authoritarianism, and so increasing interest in snooping
(mods, if these are too political for this forum, then please advise on how I can make them less political)

I am looking for:

Please can you all give me your suggestions for distributions for any or all of these please? (or if I’m thinking about this the wrong way!)

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Fedora

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The default Fedora or anything out of the repos should be fine for your requirements. For .exe s you can use ether a Windows HVM or wine,lutris,etc in an appvm. probably your idea is to use different distros for your setup, but you must considere if you install an iso from a non supported distro from ITL/community it wont have things like inter VM file copy or the global clipboard which can be a very frustrating.

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That saves me a lot of time. Thank you

I’d mark your answer as the solution, and this thread as Solved, if I could find the option…

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Bazzite is fedora based and is made for gaming

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What about Dueger and what was the other I cant remember but there was another iso that also seemed to be for gaming and was fedora based. Ill have to find it.

Im sorry its Drauger its ubuntu LTS based. The other is Nobara and is also Fedora based.

If it is fedora based will global clipboard and copy paste still work? Or must it be a prepared fedora image?

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Hi, if you’re still evaluating, the order would be:

  • Games: I don’t know what you want to play, but I’d recommend the Arch Linux emulator installed from Flatpak. (If you want to venture into implementing a Qubes system with a dedicated graphics card, that’s your own endeavor.)

  • Discord: Installed from Flatpak.

  • Browsing the internet: If you don’t trust anything, use completely disposable Qubes, meaning that no changes persist within them after a reboot.

  • YouTube: Same as browsing the internet.

  • Running .exe apps: I recommend trying the Windows installation on a dedicated Qubes and using the Qube without internet access permanently. Install and use everything only in offline mode.

  • (Optionally, you could try Wine compatibility configurations using bottles or wine-ge), yo instale el office 2016 con bottles.

  • Email and password manager: Debian or Fedora are both options, as they are officially supported by Qubes with ready-to-deploy templates. The email function can be web-based unless you’re interested in using older POP3 servers or similar and require a dedicated app for its management. Regarding passwords, all templates come with the KeePassXC manager, which is reasonably secure when properly configured. However, this should be evaluated by a professional based on your specific threat model.

Now, most importantly, regardless of the distribution you’ll be developing your Qubes on, I recommend installing a firewall solely for connection monitoring. I recommend Portmaster; the free version is sufficient for monitoring connections, but you can purchase the paid version for extra protection features, depending on their privacy model. This might be a small or nonexistent contribution to Qubes, but it’s better than nothing.

Regarding the distribution itself, due to the way qubes work (especially disposable qubes), you can choose Debian or Fedora. The latter only has a few extra layers of protection because it uses SELinux systems, but it’s still hackable. If you’re interested, there are Debian-based options with this, such as KickSecure.

However, I would recommend that you at least make your qube (sys-net) immutable from the installation stage, install a good firewall, an ad blocker in your browser (uBlock Origin), and some malware protection (Malwarebytes). Keep your system updated through a proxy. I recommend securing the Whonix system configuration, as it’s possible you could be hacked through the Tor network for updates. Don’t open more than one qube at a time, and block LAN traffic between qubes, just to prevent incidents.

Use Flatpak installed as your system to limit modifications after each reboot.

At least that’s the basics to start tinkering with your Anemaza model.

You can find more modifications, such as hiding your network name to prevent others from discovering you’re browsing through qubes, or installing other types of firewalls (better?) like Miranda, in the forum threads. Regards.

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