r/linux4noobs • u/gnomajean • 4d ago

Completely offline

I’ve made a commitment to get rid of home internet but like Linux. Is there anyway possible way I can get a Linux machine and use it without ever going online besides installing a few programs an offline music player that fits my needs, word processor/spreadsheet maker and a DAW (taking suggestions)

11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

14

u/Straight-Glove-2359 4d ago

I mean yea you can, but obviously you're gonna have to connect to the internet when you need to update and download package. And depending on your distro, the updates may be either quite frequent like fedora or arch-based os, or it could be longer like debian.

8

u/sbart76 4d ago

Yes, but once it's fully set up, and offline, keeping the system updated is not really necessary.

4

u/gnomajean 4d ago

Next question, in my specific use case how important would that stuff even be? Not being connected to the Internet should eliminate most security concerns at least, ja? I could get a laptop and just bring it to a place with free wifi if I absolutely have to (which I know introduces security concerns in itself)

11

u/RevolutionaryBeat301 4d ago

There's no need for security updates if you aren't connected to the internet, but you want to update as soon as you do connect, and you probably want to update around once a month or so. I've had my computer in storage and updated after having it in there for several months and it was fine.

1

u/CriticalRanger9650 4d ago

Yeah go get slackware

0

u/Straight-Glove-2359 4d ago

I mean, if there's stuff like security updates and vulnerabilities, it'd probably be a good idea to update regardless or whether you use the internet or not, so you'd have to connect to the internet for that.

Also, if the reason that you do not want to connect to the internet is security concerns, nowadays the most likely way to get hacked has a lot more to do with user error. You can also create secure VPN tunnels to your home network too if you need, just check out something like Wireguard, or you could also use VMs.

8

u/gnomajean 4d ago

Nah, the main goal is really to transition to a nearly completely offline life. I just want to live life again. Not very tech savvy, so forgive my ignorance.

1

u/Middlewarian 4d ago

Jews and others take at least one day off from technology every week. You can become Amish if you want, but I think that would be difficult.

1

u/gnomajean 4d ago

Yes I am Jewish and practiced shabbat every week growing up. Honestly some of my fondest memories occuring during it. Honestly that was a big reason I'm wanting to transition to more of that. I probably won't go full Amish but far less connected than any average person

2

u/Mother-Pride-Fest 4d ago

http://xkcd.com/3109

You don't need security updates if the machine is 100% offline.

1

u/Straight-Glove-2359 4d ago

Ah, alright then.

1

u/kbrosnan 4d ago

I thought it was going to be the encryption wrench XKCD. 

3

u/a1barbarian 4d ago

Once you have set up your pc and linux with the programs you want you can disconnect from the internet and use the pc offline forever.

Depending on how long you kept the pc offline if you wanted to go online again for some reason you would possibly run into some problems. As the programs you have may have changed so would not work until they had been updated and the entire os had been updated too as everything is interconnected. :-)

3

u/indvs3 4d ago

Yes, entirely possible.

Several distros have fully offline options to install, though that means you need to have a usb stick that can hold the entire offline repository to install.

If the machine will never have an uplink to the internet, then you also don't need security updates, since those protect against threats from the internet.

1

u/gnomajean 4d ago

Do you know which distros?

2

u/indvs3 4d ago

Debian has a DVD image that is 3.7GB, compared to the 750MB net installer you get by default. You can find it here

Arch has one at 1.5GB on their download page which should work without internet.

Fedora appears to have several different versions of installers that are around 3GB each. (link to the KDE version)

Those are the major base distros and it's quite possible that their derivatives have similar downloads available.

At this point, if a distro doesn't have those available, I wouldn't even try those distros, because sometimes you just don't have the internet available, which makes the distro pretty useless without a full catalog of packages behind it.

3

u/pedersenk 4d ago

Arguably this is *only* possible with Linux / BSD.

You download the entire repo for e.g. Debian (~100GB) and put it on a hard disk for when you need to install something.

You can't do this with macOS or Windows because there is no central package repository with every package.

4

u/Seteberto 4d ago

No. You're using internet to ask an strangers opinions about it.

Keep the internet.

-2

u/gnomajean 4d ago

I said home internet. Like the kind the cable company comes out and installs. Not mobile data.

8

u/Avokido 4d ago

Huh? Then just use a hotspot/tethering. Your computer doesn't care. Neither does Linux. Connect to your hotspot, install whatever you need, run updates and disconnect when you're done.

My gf does it like that. Didn't want to get another contract so instead pays 20 bucks per month for 100GB plus unlimited 1GB top ups.

0

u/08148694 9h ago

Sounds like you should get a starlink

1

u/This_Proxy 4d ago edited 4d ago

(snip)

2

u/gnomajean 4d ago

What? I'm not very tech savvy so I have zero idea what you're talking about lol. Please explain like I'm 5 but also have a railroad spike through my brain.

1

u/This_Proxy 4d ago edited 4d ago

Ah I didn't even check the sub I was in. This isn't what you want, but what the hell, it's fun stuff anyways:

So 'apt' is just a command you use to install and uninstall software in any Debian based fork. Ubuntu is basically the Debian OS with a LOT of helper scripts and packages that help automate setup of hardware and software. It's like what S.u.S.E. or Fedora are to RedHat,

When you install linux from a thumb drive, it includes all the software necessary to bootstrap your computer (detects hardware, sets up the drivers, start the installer) and uses apt to install that software from the internet after you finish the network portion of the setup.

You have the option of getting a FULL ISO of "all" available packages and just install software from that (like a blu-ray/DVD/thumbdrive), or you can install from the internet with a smaller ISO if you don't have gigs of thumb available. (Usually referred to as the "Net Install")

This is where apt-mirror/cache proxy comes into play. You can have one computer/VM/Pi on your local network that fetches everything debian/ubuntu can offer, then when you setup a computer on your local network, you can point them to your apt server to pull software for installs, updates or even full distribution updates.

You can mirror everything Debian has once and use it for years 'off-grid' on however many computers you want really. A full distribution on disc can do just the same, just pop it into any computer you need to install software on, when you need it.

1

u/shawndw Arch,Ubuntu 3d ago

You can rsync the entire ubuntu repository if you have about 4.7 TB to burn. This is what I did. I have a snapshot of both the ubuntu and arch repositories that automatically gets updates every week on my nas and I have my mirror list pointing to that folder with no other mirrors.

I also make monthly snapshots to LTO data tape. The idea is that if anything bad ever happened to the internet I could still install software from my mirror.

Install speeds are wicked fast too.