cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/17506000
I am not satisfied with Linux’s security and have been researching alternative open source OS for privacy and security So far only thing that’s ready to use is GrapheneOS (Based on Android) but that’s not available on desktop (Though when Android release Desktop mode it may become viable)
Qubes OS is wrapper around underlying operating systems, so it doesn’t really fix for example Linux’s security holes it just kinda sandbox/virtualize them
OpenBSD is more secure than Linux on a base level but lack mitigations and patches that are added to linux overtime and it’s security practices while good for it’s time is outdated now
RedoxOS (Written in Rust) got some nice ideas but sticks to same outdated practices and doesn’t break the wheel too much, and security doesn’t seems to be main focus of OS
Haiku and Serenity are outright worse than Linux, especially Haiku as it’s single user only
Serenity adopted Pledge and Unveil from OpenBSD but otherwise lacks basic security features
All new security paradigms seems to be happening in microkernels and these are the ones that caught my eyes
None of these are ready to be used as daily driver OS but in future (hopefully) it may change
Genode seems to be far ahead of game than everything else
Ironclad Written in ADA
Atmosphere And Mesosphere Open Source Re-implementation of Nintendo Switch’s Horizon OS, I didn’t expected this to be security-oriented but seems like Nintendo has done a very solid job
Then there are Managarm, HelenOS, Theseus but I couldn’t figure out how secure they are
Finally there is Kicksecure from creators of Whonix, Kicksecure is a linux distro that plans to fix Linux’s security problems
if you know of any other OS please share it here
I feel like a lot of this is driven by a bias towards the unknown. You don’t know all the security issues in something new or even something old that doesn’t get the same level of testing as Linux.
I would trust security hardened Linux over all of the suggestions any day of the week. Better the devil you know.
While that’s true for mitigations, one system can be more secure than another by design
Things like an OS that’s designed with sandboxing, more clean codebase that’s auditable, permissions, … in mind is more secure than an OS that later adds them as an afterthought
Or at least if added later they should be done properly
iOS and Android are way more secure than Linux (And no Android isn’t just linux) cause they were designed in much later era with better security practices in mind
Even MacOS and Windows’s security are objectively better than linux’s even though they started with same security mindset, the problem is they are not open source
Those things were “added later” to create iOS and Android, they aren’t from scratch systems. iOS especially shares a large portion of its code base with macOS (much of which is open source).
Iirc microkernels have been the future since before Linux existed. There was a bit of a flame war between Linus and the guy who wrote the MINIX kernel about how being monolithic would be the death of Linux.
GNU Hurd also wanted to show the world how good microkernels could be, but sadly never got off the ground.
I’m not saying microkernels are bad, but I do wonder if there’s some reason we don’t see them out in the wild much.
It’s likely because of the extra complexity involved in microkernels. Especially like the Hurd, which really didn’t take off because it was too ambitious and Linux was finished faster.
