#debian

I was messing with the #debian installer and its disk partitioning. I don't understand this at all. This is plain stupid.

If the partitioning scheme includes swap, it should be the last partition on the disk. This installer frequently puts it in the absolute worst possible place: the middle.

That's dumb, especially in a virtual world where hard disks trivially change size.

See, what if I decide to make this disk bigger? What if I decide I need more swap? If swap is the last partition, it's trivial.

1. Increase the virtual disk size
2. Boot to single user mode
3. Delete the swap partition
4. Expand the penultimate partition to encompass the new space I created, minus the amount of swap I want.
5. Grow the filesystem in the penultimate partition
6. Create the swap partition in the final position again.
7. Boot.

But when you stick swap in the middle of the fscking disk then it makes changes really non-trivial. You really can't change anything.

The only partitioning scheme that gets it right is the "All files in one partition" scheme. Since there's just the one root filesystem, it puts swap at the end.

Also, it appears that you cannot change the size of partitions in this view. Like, if I wasn't happy with 1.1G of swap, tough noogies. That surprises me. The entire POINT of an interactive installer like this is to allow me to specify high-level things like "Gimme 2G of swap" and have the installer recalculate all the start/stop partition values and such. I've done plenty of debian installs, but this is the first time I stopped to notice how bad this is.

Some of you may argue that the problems I cite aren't important. But I defy you to come up with a good reason why one should put the swap partition in the middle of the partition table. You can argue it doesn't hurt, but you cannot argue that it does something good.

#linux

PH4NTXM Development Update

We are currently finalizing the integration of post-quantum cryptography into the PH4NTXM live operating system. The goal is simple but ambitious: a privacy-focused, stateless live OS that boots with quantum-resistant cryptographic capabilities built directly into the system.

Our build pipeline now compiles the post-quantum cryptographic stack during the live-build process and embeds it into the OS while keeping the final ISO minimal and free of build tooling.

Next steps are runtime verification and integration with networking components so that PH4NTXM can begin leveraging quantum-resistant algorithms for secure communications.

If everything proceeds as expected, PH4NTXM may become the first privacy-focused live Linux distribution shipping with built-in post-quantum cryptography.

More updates soon.

#ph4ntxm #linux #debian #os #live #privacy #security #opsec #infosec #research #tech #technology

RE: https://mastodon.green/@gerrymcgovern/116211070406065813

Another example of why being able to install post market OSes on devices is necessary

I’m currently running a backup server on hardware my dad owned. It’s old enough to vote. And works perfectly with #Debian. I’m hoping to put @postmarketOS on an old Android Z2 I have literally just lying around, to use as a little server to play with.

The constant push for more is a push to separate you from your money. And it’s destroying the world

Hmm if I run some kind of Linux distro (Debian actually) or some other *nix like FreeBSD do I need to worry about the coming "secure boot certificate rollover" apocalypse?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/windows-secure-boot-certificate-expiration-and-ca-updates-7ff40d33-95dc-4c3c-8725-a9b95457578e

#linux #debian #secureboot

PH4NTXM just gained a small behavioral decoy layer.

Security-focused live systems can sometimes look *too quiet*. A perfectly idle machine produces a very clean behavioral signal.

So we added a lightweight background engine that occasionally generates plausible activity when the operator is idle:

• terminal commands
• DNS lookups
• tiny web requests
• temporary files in RAM
• subtle cursor movement when a GUI exists

Everything is ephemeral and runs after randomized idle periods.

Lone Wolf mode even generates occasional Tor activity to blend into the same rhythm as a cautious Tor user.

A small feature — but one that adds a bit of behavioral ambiguity.

Sometimes the system quietly pretends someone is there.

#ph4ntxm #linux #debian #os #live #privacy #security #opsec #infosec #research #tech #technology

Al fin, es una característica que andaba esperando desde hace tiempo. Ahora toca que #Debian actualice el programa, pero me temo que no lo veremos hasta #Debian14

Cito textualmente de @muylinux

"KeePassXC estrena soporte para {TIMEOTP} como marcador de posición en Auto-Type, lo que permite introducir automáticamente códigos TOTP basados en tiempo durante el autocompletado."

Facilito el enlace por si a alguien más le interesa.

https://www.muylinux.com/2026/03/10/keepassxc-2-7-12/

#Cita #linux #keepassxc #totp

I've known #distrobox for quite a while and used it casually go get things on my system and liked it a lot.
Well since I started doing #development in my free time I came to rely on this tool a lot! It gives me such freedom and ease of mind, I love it!
Previously I would install #ArchLinux to get the newest dependencies & goodies. After a while I either mess things up or I switch stack, tech or something else, so I used to wipe all & install from scratch for the next "project".
Now I just use #debian as a host and get all the sdk's, ide's and all stuff related in an arch container. Then export what I need.