I’d prefer to get a VPN to avoid the risk of my internet getting shut down, but I’m not aware of what the options for Linux are. I figured this would be a good place to ask.

  • bardmoss@linux.community
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    7 months ago

    The only VPNs which are not owned by marketing companies are Mullvad and Proton. The largest VPNs are owned by Kape Technologies, renamed because their prior company name distributed malware, whose top people are former Israeli military, so I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. I would never use a free VPN except for Proton, and Proton’s paid VPN has a lot more nodes and features.

  • scoobford@lemmy.zip
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    7 months ago

    Proton and mullvad are the two best options I know of.

    Pretty much any VPN provider is usable on Linux though, network manager can handle wireguard or openvpn configs just fine. Your biggest concern should be trustworthiness.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    7 months ago

    Mullvad has an open source client. It can also be set up usung OpenVPN too.

    Bear in mind they don’t have Port Forwarding anymore.

  • Spectranox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 months ago

    I’m a Proton slave, all my eggs are in their basket so I’ll go ahead and provide some free marketing for them. ProtonVPN is pretty good since it’s ran by a good company that cares about you, getting Port Forwarding setup on Linux is a bit of a chore but I believe they’re working on automating it, the Windows app does have it automated already by the way.

    I do worry about the long-term practicality of ProtonVPN because of this manual process, since as far as I can tell there’s no way to automatically hand your assigned port to the torrent client…

  • UntouchedWagons@lemmy.ca
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    7 months ago

    I’ll vouch for airvpn. I’ve been using it for probably six years now with no issues. When using wireguard I can download Linux isos at 500mbps.

  • iiGxC@slrpnk.net
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    7 months ago

    Mullvad, it has ipv6 and works on linux even if you don’t use NetworkManager. Protonvpn doesn’t have ipv6 and only works with networkmanager

    Also last I checked, mullvad wireguard works in the app, whereas proton requires special setup

    • eatfudd@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Mullvad doesn’t offer port forwarding anymore if that’s important to you.

  • kbal@kbin.melroy.org
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    7 months ago

    Pick one that has a wireguard config generator, so you don’t need to use any client software besides the normal linux wg client.

    I’d also look for one that accepts anonymous payment methods. Even if you don’t intend to go to the trouble to use that yourself, it’s probably a good sign if it’s available. Mullvad is pretty safe and served me well until they stopped doing port forwarding. Proton, windscribe, azire, and airvpn were the ones that seemed most recommended when I went to look for a new one a few months ago.

  • lemmyingly@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    Your OS doesn’t matter when picking a VPN provider.

    Others have mentioned plenty of good options.

    • Pantoffel@feddit.de
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      7 months ago

      It does matter in terms of ease of use. Some have apps, some don’t. A non-linux-native might have difficulties with the latter.

  • shaytan@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 months ago
    • Mullvad: Very privacy focused, ok priced, very robust. Sadly they removed port forwarding not too long ago.
    • AirVPN: Good speeds, many servers, cheap, port fowarding.
    • ProtonVPN: Works well, specially if you like the idea of getting their services together (mail, cloud, vpn)
    • Einar@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      requires some setup

      The story of Linux in a few words.

          • Spectranox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            7 months ago

            From the one time I tried MacOS in a VM, setup is similar to Windows with somehow even fewer options and stronger 1984 vibes.

            • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              7 months ago

              Windows 11 and needing a Microsoft account to install enters chat.

              And yes, I know there is a work-around, which I’ve used, but it requires CLI commands to restart the OOBE/install.

              • Spectranox@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                7 months ago

                At least you can use Windows without an account, on MacOS you can’t even install an app without one I don’t think.

                Just to be clear, I hate both of them, I’m a Linux user.

                • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  7 months ago

                  Nope, you must create a user account for Windows. Creating a local (non-MS online account) requires the extra steps.