An Argument Against Qubes OS | For the Newcomer | Guide

Great topic! I am that guy without a computer background and I come armed with a stupid question.

"Whonix requires a computer: desktop or laptop. A good amount of RAM. An operating system like Debian or Linux Mint Cinnamon."

I thought that Whonix is an operating system so why would it require another OS such as Debian or Linux Mint or is that only so that Whonix can be downloaded and thus Windows would also be fine?

I was about to message you -- let me fix that.

Thank you!

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Disclaimer. I'm not a newcomer.

I looked at the Qubes recommended laptops and there were old Thinkpads I could get 2nd hand for $200. Add an SSD for another $50.

So long as it's got 8+GB of memory does the processor speed matter much?

If you've got an Intel chipset and don't mind compiling stuff Clear Linux is a great base for Whonix. It's ridiculously fast and security hardened.

I have Qubes on a laptop with 20GB RAM, 64GB, and 128GB RAM and the 20GB is an i7 and it crawls. Pisses me off. If you dedicate 4GB of RAM to a Qube, then you can hardly open a 2nd one and will probably wait 15-20 seconds for the first one to open; maybe.

You have Whonix. Qubes would run everything either through (a) the Whonix-gateway (b) Debian or (c) Fedora so you're more than comfortably set with Whonix plus you have an OS underneath your VM.

They're recommending a 2011 i5 that maxes at 16GB mem. I'm over Qubes.

When you look at the task manager you'll see this Qube is running 4GB, DOM0 is running this much, the firewall is running that much. It begs for at least 32. 16 is a selling point $ otherwise nobody would try it. I'm on a laptop right now with 128 and 3 OSes, when you jump from one laptop to another you feel the difference the way you would in a car, right away. Qubes - it's brilliant, but noting special. (I don't play chess.) Chess is brilliant, but people don't have wild parties over chess. They just marvel at its respectability in its sophistication.

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I remember when you wanted to try Qubes so badly. A lot of newcomers keep hearing "Qubes" and the elitist crowd write about it. Very few people actually use it. You need a high-performance machine to even run it in the first place. Whonix is the perfect, trouble-free experience.