LETTERS EASIER THAN NWIPE
T
he last edition (FCM#164) addressed a few aspects of security, which has been growing ever more important. I was interested in your article on using nwipe to wipe the disk of an old computer destined for recycling. There is an easier way, but it needs to be addressed in advance. I purchased a new Ubuntu computer from Dell. After checking that it all worked correctly, I freshly installed Ubuntu 20.04, using LUKS to encrypt the entire drive (with UEFI to check the unencrypted Grub and /boot). This is an option on the standard Ubuntu installer, so it was easy to do. The passphrase that I chose for LUKS is, of course, very strong, otherwise there's no point to the encryption. I occasionally need a couple of other OSes, including Windows, so rather than using dual-boot, I have installed them as virtual machines. As their virtual drives are on the LUKS drive, they are also fully encrypted. Being able to use a
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snapshot with Windows, given its frequent bugs, is a huge advantage! Another advantage is that I can continue to use my main OS (Ubuntu) while running any of my other OSes. Installing this way means that when the time eventually comes to recycle this computer, I don't have to worry about erasing the drive. All that I have to do is forget my LUKS passphrase, and the data is lost. I recommend this way forward for everyone who has a computer with sufficient memory and power: Have your main OS on a disk fully encrypted with LUKS, and all subOSes in VMs. It saves a lot of bother! If you're a business, this automatically satisfies requirements for fully encrypted data-at-rest (such as GDPR in the UK or Data Protection in the EU).
UBPORTS TOUCH AND PINEPHONE
T
he UB Ports article in FCM magazine was useful. But I bought a Pinephone recently and, having put UBports [Touch] on it, found out that it is still a way behind. I have to reboot the phone every time I want to make a call, I have trouble selecting numbers when in a call (select 2 for sales...), and I get loud static over bluetooth in the car instead of audio. It was all enough for me to put the phone aside until an update fixes all these things. I have my BQ Ubuntu phone to use in the meanwhile. Chris Burmajster
facebook.com/ fullcirclemagazine twitter.com/#!/fullcirclemag linkedin.com/company/fullcircle-magazine ubuntuforums.org/ forumdisplay.php?f=270
FULL CIRCLE NEEDS YOU! Without reader input Full Circle would be an empty PDF file (which I don't think many people would find particularly interesting). We are always looking for articles, reviews, anything! Even small things like letters and desktop screens help fill the magazine. See the article Writing for Full Circle in this issue to read our basic guidelines.
Paddy Landau
full circle magazine #165
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