this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2025
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So, I'm currently on Kubuntu and I'm not really a fan. I want to take the opportunity to switch to a better distro. Ideally I'd use secureblue but I'm hoping for advice on how practical it is as a daily driver from the people who've used it.

My priorities are:

  1. Using Linux.
  2. Using Firefox.
  3. Security, within reason.
  4. Using software which treats security with the importance it warrants (If desktop Linux should improve in one area in 2026, it's security).

My options are:

  1. Fedora Kinoite
  2. Fedora KDE with some hardening
  3. Secureblue

My needs are:

  • Browsers: Firefox, Mullvad Browser, a Blink-based browser (backup).
  • Extensions: Ublock Origin (Lite or otherwise), Noscript, Proton Pass
  • Apps: Freetube, Anki, Discord, Threema, Libreoffice, Mullvad VPN, Kwrite, Kolourpaint
  • Sound: Bluetooth headphones, Sound, Printing (Optional)

I've stopped using themes, partly because of the security issues and partly because I just don't really like them anymore. I've replaced them with the Plastic window decorations that come default on Kubuntu and a custom colour scheme.

On Firefox:

  • I need Firefox because it allows me to create duplicate bookmarks with ease. I manage a lot of things via bookmarks and sometimes they overlap.
  • Secureblue has been incompatible with Firefox in the past, but IIRC Firefox recently added support for hardened_malloc. I can't find where I read this though.
  • In terms of the security issues with Firefox, I've installed Noscript to prevent untrusted sites from running javascript (especially Wasm). I can swap to a blink-based browser where it requires trusting too many sites.
  • Proton Pass ... I don't log directly into it on my computer (only on GrapheneOS) and I don't have my 2FA keys stored on it. I need it for a Passkey because neither Linux nor GrapheneOS support them natively and my government services' 2FA codes requires it's own app which requires the Play Integrity API (bloody Australia). My government services are a very high value target (because Australia).
  • I wonder if I really need hardened_malloc in the first place, since with the state of Linux security I'm not sure there's a reason someone would use a memory vulnerability unless I'm being targeted personally (and nobody's gonna do that for me).

Security goals:

  1. I want to make sure the software I install don't have access to anything they don't need to.
  2. I want to make sure that any website I visit won't be able to access my file system.
  3. I want to make sure that my browser extensions won't be able to access my file system.
  4. I want to use a distro that's somewhat resilient against supply chain attacks.
  5. Proximity to upstream for timely security patches.
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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I've had a bad experience with Flatpak-first distros. Partly because i've run them from USB* and have slow internet here, running on a 2018er laptop, partly the duplicated/more complex tooling (especially Silverblue). And don't even start trying to remove preinstalled apps or roll your own image. In short, customization and performance are severely limited.

* Especially Bottles gets outright unusable as a Flatpak running from a USB SSD.

[–] Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I've never used a Flatpak-first distro, but customization and performance are not high on my priorities.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

There's also Windows then. Although, no; that has a hostile stance to it's users.

[–] PanArab@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The sandboxed nature of them can be a hindrance when doing software development.

[–] tgxn@lemmy.tgxn.net 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah I find a base install of Arch+KDE works well for me, for Dev, Gaming and General Web. I tried Bazzite on my laptop, but found similar things as others have pointed out regarding flatpack-first distros 😮‍💨