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[completed] Working on a project and a survey about GNU/Linux security. Survey results in post.


~~i have created a short questionnaire, regarding how GNU/Linux users secure their system. if you are somewhat knowledgeful on this topic and willing to share, i would appreciate if you would fill out my questionnaire~~

okay, so, my research is finished. here are the results:

The "other" distributions include: NixOS (8x), Gentoo (4x), Slackware (1x), Void Linux (1x) or a combination of multiple distributions

This entry was edited (11 months ago)
in reply to seal51890

I filled your survey. It would be nice if you could share the results once it's completed.
in reply to seal51890

Some of the stuff I would do if my system was held together by more than literally just hopes and dreams.
in reply to seal51890

A note: I have entirely automated background updates. I have no idea how often it checks, or how often it updates.
in reply to seal51890

Question 2 confuses me.

###Do you have automatic update checks enabled on your system?

Yes, with daily checks.

No, automatic updates are disabled.


My system checks daily for updates and notifies me, but doesn't automatically update. Is this "other," or "yes"? Is the "no" option meant to say "automatic update[ check]s are disabled"? Or am I misunderstanding what an update check is?

in reply to seal51890

I propose asking if the person is primarily using a laptop or a desktop computer. For example: I do use disk encryption and Secure Boot on my laptop, but not on my desktop.
in reply to seal51890

in reply to The Bard in Green

I have my daily driver laptop, which duel boots between Linux Mint and QubesOS.


Which one wins? Is pistols at dawn? I have so many questions!

in reply to Sturgist

Qubes wins that fight, as it is technically a posse. DOM0 is the sheriff.
in reply to seal51890

Okay, my survey is complete. I posted updated results, with data from 150 responses.
The wording on question 2 and 3 might have been too confusing, sorry for that.
in reply to Omega

That's me, tbh it's annoying to install update if there are 5 or 10 packages to update.
I just wait until it show much more update, so......usually i waited 3 month max
in reply to Omega

4000 packages update ???? nah....it's rookie number bro, just wait loooooong enough so when you updated your system will crashed or show tons of error message after reboot
in reply to Omega

if you don't mind me asking: why? in my experience, keeping the system up to date is usually effortless
in reply to beleza pura

I don't wanna restart, and I don't really care enough

I update when I think I have nothing else to do or when it's important enough (new Nvidia drivers, a remote execution patch, new gnome update)

in reply to Omega

oh, i forgot gnome forces you to reboot after each update (plasma just installs the updates in the background after you ask it to)
in reply to seal51890

When was this questionnaire posted? I didn't see it and get a chance to answer.

Also, I treat servers different to desktops due to different threat models. The server automatically applies security updates and keeps most feature updates sitting for a while for stability, but on desktop I just install everything within a couple of days.

This entry was edited (11 months ago)
in reply to seal51890

It's nice getting a glimpse as to what fraction of Linux users are using disk encryption. Full disk encryption is becoming the default on mainstream OSes, but not in most of the Linux installers I've encountered. Always made me curious just how many people went out of their way to encrypt their Linux install.

I personally encrypt everything except for VMs already in an encrypted device or USB drives that need to work with non-Linux machines. It'd be interesting to hear what other people's reasons to encrypt their disks or not are.