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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to comment by Rambler in Whats your Linux flavor of choice? by Rambler

Used OptiPlex PCs with XP Pro pre-installed and pre-activated are still available on eBay. Got my last/current one over three years ago, and it's still going strong. Unfortunately it's use for surfing is very limited by the last three remaining browsers, which is the only reason I'm in process of moving on to Win 7 Pro.

I am not a fan of Win 7, but I can put up with it for a year or two, til I teach myself Linux. My 'new' used PC is Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, Quad Core i7 3770 (3.4GHz), 16GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Hard Drive: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. I had computer shop modify it. Mobile rack in the spare 5.25 bay which holds a SSD for MX Linux, and a regular hard disk for bare-metal/clone backups of Win 7.

AntiX is more on par with Linux Mint, both being slightly less intuitive than MX Linux, but I think AntiX is a smaller install than MX, so might be better for a laptop.

https://embeddedinventor.com/mx-linux-vs-antix-similarities-differences/

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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to What are some good .onion sites to visit? Most wikis and guides are dated and full of broken links. by Rambler

https://deepweblinks.net/directories/

https://www.thedarkweblinks.com/page/15/

These are the ones I'm currently exploring:

http://torlinksd6pdnihy.onion/

http://xmh57jrzrnw6insl.onion/

http://zqktlwi4fecvo6ri.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://hss3uro2hsxfogfq.onion/

http://kpynyvym6xqi7wz2.onion/links.html

http://hdwikicorldcisiy.onion/index

http://dirnxxdg2mgyrbgj.onion/

http://hss3uro2hsxfogfq.onion/

http://wiki5kauuihowqi5.onion/

http://uhwiki36pbooodfj.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://wikitjerrta4qgz4.onion/

http://underdj5ziov3ic7.onion/

http://2fd6cemt4gmccflhm6imvdfvli3nf7zn6rfrwpsy7uhxrgbypvwf5fad.onion/

I can start to keep notes on the results if that would be of use.

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Rambler OP wrote

Reply to comment by Kalchaya in Whats your Linux flavor of choice? by Rambler

XP Pro was the last MS OS I ran at home and honestly, loved it. I still probably have an old XP SP3 disk somewhere. Didn't know installs were still in use outside of POS systems and purpose built use cases in factories and industry running software that requires it.

May try MX Linux on an older laptop that I'd like to breathe new life into. I've heard good things about AntiX as well.

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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to Whats your Linux flavor of choice? by Rambler

I gave a test drive to around 20+ distros over the last couple years. Only ones I found usable for an XP Pro expat was MX Linux, Linux Mint, AntiX, Kodachi Linux, and Tails. My pick of the litter was MX Linux for install. Linux Mint, Kodachi and Tails for LiveCD use.

My upcoming move from XP Pro to a Win 7 Pro rig will have MX Linux on separate SSD. I will continue to use Linux Mint for online banking/shopping, and Kodachi or Tails to safari into the darkest darkness of the Darknet. MX Linux and Kodachi impresses me the most!

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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to What features do you look for in a VPN? by Rambler

Depends on what you need it for, and what you need it to do. Considerations could be:

  1. No logs policy (backed up in it's TOS), and preferably certified by a 3rd party.

  2. Based outside the 14-Eyes jurisdiction.

  3. Reliable kill-switch.

  4. No leaks.

  5. GUI client.

  6. Compatible with your OS.

  7. Uses compatible protocol (IKEv2, Wireguard, L2TP, OpenVPN, etc.).

  8. TOR friendly.

  9. Multi-hop.

  10. Unlimited bandwidth/fast speed.

  11. No auto-renew or ability to disable it.

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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to Why cookies don't get deleted from the browser unless whitelisted? by Wahaha

There are no 'good' cookies. Only those some are fooled into thinking are useful to themselves....but are always far more useful to others. I have Self-Destructing Cookies on my Firefox-deriative browsers, Cookinator on auto, then always back that up with BleachBit and CCleaner prior to turning off the PC.

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Kalchaya wrote

Reply to comment by Wahaha in Which browsers can you trust enough to use? by Wahaha

While I fancy myself a 'futurist' able to make fairly accurate predictions, I would not attempt that prognostication. Developers are an unreliable lot. The same one that creates a freeware app today is likely to sellout tomorrow, and include nasty bundleware with his app. In its early days, Firefox used to be one of the good guys, now it's just as likely to "fuck you over" as Chrome is:

https://digdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/mozilla.html

Brave is another one that started out okay, then quickly crossed to the darkside:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/privacy-browser-brave-busted-for-autocompleting-urls-to-versions-it-profits-from/

https://www.netsparker.com/blog/web-security/brave-browser-sacrifices-security/

I would not venture to guess which browsers will go rogue in the future. I can only list those that are okay now. Browsers are much like sites that source software. Right now, Softpedia and Majorgeeks are kinda/sorta safe...how long before they become as nasty as CNET is unknown.

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