Mandriva Flash 2008 has been released. "Mandriva Flash 4GB provides a full-featured system - Mandriva Linux 2008 KDE- that requires no installation, on a bootable USB key. All you have to do is plug in the USB key, turn the PC on and the Mandriva Linux operating system is ready to use, with all you need for office work, Internet and multimedia tasks. System configuration, preferences and data are all saved on the key."
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Member since:2006-02-15
IHMO it'd be nice if on the first boot the user was presented with some short info about information theft and the risks, possibly with a link to a more in-depth explanation of such, and the option of encrypting one's home folder. If you did select to encrypt your files you'd just have to enter a password every time you boot with Mandriva Flash. Power-users or users who don't feel the need to encrypt their files would also be given the opportunity of not encrypting them.
But how difficult would it be to implement such? AFAIK there is no filesystem under Linux which supports encryption of files and folders so it would probably have to be either the entire filesystem or a loopback one..(PS. Someone implement file/folder encryption, please?)
Member since:2006-11-17
What about dmcrypt?
BTW the programs are GPL licensed, Why would you rob it when you can download it! And you can not even rob it like that. You would have to violate the GPL to rob the software, that mean you would have to modify it and redistribute without the source!
IMO it makes absolutely no sense to crypt the programs (root partition). You loose performance for nothing.
Now the home can be mounted with dmcrypt, which is easy to setup mandriva-way and this USB key is Mandriva 2008, which is IMO the easiest distro to date.
Edited 2007-12-04 09:34
Member since:2007-02-22
There are file systems out there that support encryption. However, beyond a certain point, it becomes pointless, because all encryption algorithms are of finite complexity (because, somewhere, at least one person had to be able to work it out in his or her head).
The trick would be to encrypt the files in such a way that you could completely decrypt the files in active memory, without using up any more of the flash drive's limited lifespan... hmm...
(Great, just what I need, another programming idea to distract me during exams week.)
Member since:
2007-02-22
With not only all your documents on it, but all your settings, all the programs you use (presumably to access those documents), all your history, everything. Granted, you normally don't have to log in to a USB drive; but then again, you normally can't pick up someone's entire computer and hide it into your pocket either.
But with things like that, it comes down to common sense: Don't leave anything usable against you (login info, site histories, personal notes, etc.) in something someone can pick up and walk away with.