Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: glennsteinbeck on June 21, 2012, 03:37 am

Title: How important is Linux for SR?
Post by: glennsteinbeck on June 21, 2012, 03:37 am
I understand the advantages to using open source software in any situation. When it comes to remaining anonymous, how important is it to use Linux as opposed to licensed Windows or OSX? Do Linux users yield a higher success rate? How safe would I be if I skipped the Liberte installation, and all the problems that come with it?
Title: Re: How important is Linux for SR?
Post by: ilovelsd69 on June 21, 2012, 03:46 am
I use windows and linux:

My base OS is Ubuntu with full disk encryption and i run windows 7 in a virtual machine (windows itself is encrypted with bitlocker) the vm can't be booted without a special usb key that i keep in a secret place. Maybe this is overkill but i'm a security maniac..  ;D
Title: Re: How important is Linux for SR?
Post by: Meister on June 21, 2012, 01:25 pm
I understand the advantages to using open source software in any situation. When it comes to remaining anonymous, how important is it to use Linux as opposed to licensed Windows or OSX? Do Linux users yield a higher success rate? How safe would I be if I skipped the Liberte installation, and all the problems that come with it?

It's not that Linux is more secure than Windows or OSX, it's more about the ability to boot a lightweight and encrypted OS from a thumb drive. If you wanted a more secure OS then there are plenty of other options, I would recommend FreeBSD. As much as I despise Macs and Apple in general, I will say that OSX is more secure than mainstream Linux distros, but time will tell if OSX will still be as secure in the future as it's replacing much of it's BSD roots with every release.
Title: Re: How important is Linux for SR?
Post by: cacoethes on June 21, 2012, 08:54 pm
I understand the advantages to using open source software in any situation. When it comes to remaining anonymous, how important is it to use Linux as opposed to licensed Windows or OSX? Do Linux users yield a higher success rate? How safe would I be if I skipped the Liberte installation, and all the problems that come with it?

Whether your Windows is licensed or not is immaterial. Linux is simply a better operating system. Instead of Liberte, I would use Tails, as it doesn't leave any traces on the machine it's run on. You must save your keys and other data to a USB stick; Tails wipes the memory of the machine it's running on before it shuts down, leaving no trace.

Guru

Just curious...  What traces does Liberte leave on the machine?
Title: Re: How important is Linux for SR?
Post by: jackintherox. on June 21, 2012, 10:24 pm
I understand the advantages to using open source software in any situation. When it comes to remaining anonymous, how important is it to use Linux as opposed to licensed Windows or OSX? Do Linux users yield a higher success rate? How safe would I be if I skipped the Liberte installation, and all the problems that come with it?

Whether your Windows is licensed or not is immaterial. Linux is simply a better operating system. Instead of Liberte, I would use Tails, as it doesn't leave any traces on the machine it's run on. You must save your keys and other data to a USB stick; Tails wipes the memory of the machine it's running on before it shuts down, leaving no trace.

Guru

I would love to start using Tails instead of XP VM TrueCrypt. The problem is Mac's won't boot USB thumbdrives very easily so I have given up. If anyone knows how to get around this, please let me know!