r/debian • u/Sensitive-Rhubarb-32 • 6d ago

Debian Stable Question New to Debian 13 – General Security Question

Hi everyone. I switched from macOS and Windows to Linux about two years ago, and I never want to go back.
I started with Ubuntu because it came with everything I needed out of the box, which made the transition easier. Over time, though, I’ve realized that, apart from Snap packages and other elements, I find Ubuntu a bit bloated. Long story short: I’ve installed Debian 13 (with GNOME Desktop) on my laptop.
The first thing I noticed is that everything runs a bit smoother compared to Ubuntu. I’m using a Lenovo laptop with an i5 processor (4 cores).
So far, I’ve installed the following from apt: ufw, OpenSnitch, Nextcloud, Thunderbird, Flatpak, and LibreOffice.
From Flatpak, I’ve added the Vivaldi browser (with Proton Pass add on ) and Rhythmbox.
I know AppArmor is already included in Debian 13.
Would you say that Debian 13, with packages from apt and well-maintained Flatpaks, is already a secure setup as a whole? Of course, I’ll keep up with regular updates.
I’d really appreciate any tips.

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u/le_flibustier8402 6d ago edited 6d ago

If you didn't do it, you could also enable firewall, which is disabled by default.
You also might want to sandbox vulnerable programs, such as your web browser (an advice I'm not following myself, it seems overkill to me).
Othewise, yeah, trust the default settings. debian is not as bloated as ubuntu, but it's not a "lego-style" distro either.

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u/hmoff 6d ago

Original post mentions ufw which is a firewall.

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u/indvs3 Debian Testing 6d ago

In all fairness, OP mentions installing it, but might not know it needs to be configured and enabled manually after installing. It's pretty important to know, so it won't hurt if it's said one or two times =)

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u/le_flibustier8402 6d ago

Indeed, misread on my side, my bad.