@voxel @linux 👋 Hi. I’ve been using Linux for about five years now and can share some of my experience.
For security, I don’t use an antivirus on my personal computers, and haven’t had any issues. I set a strong password and don’t log in as root except when necessary, and that has covered my security concerns. At work, I’ve used ClamAV, which is a good idea if you’re running a web server accessible over the open internet. But I feel it’s overkill for a desktop.

Hope this helps.

@voxel@infosec.exchange @linux@lemmy.ml

If you’re still in the experimental phase, jumping between distros, I’m pretty partial to ElementaryOS - but haven’t used it in a few years. It was the GOAT back in the early days, though, for a pretty and consistent UI.

Does mint ship a kde plasma variation? I find that UI to be more modern than cinnamon

1. Install all graphical apps via flatpak
2. Install other packages within distrobox
3. Make sure it auto updates
4. Use selinux

Cinnamon is gtk, right? https://github.com/rafaelmardojai/firefox-gnome-theme

@voxel @linux What desktop environment are you using? (Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE)

@voxel @linux I do little or nothing to optimize Cinnamon beyond looking at the Startup Applications to see if there’s anything I don’t need.

Linux Mint’s newest release is very nice, with Cinnamon at version 6.04. It’s showing the benefits of refining an existing product rather than layering on new features. (If you use touchpad gestures, the new configuration options are useful.)

Fedora’s Cinnamon spin is also excellent, if you prefer something other than Mint’s Ubuntu-based product.

@voxel @linux idk, turn on a firewall and run a clamav scan once in awhile. I know that linux malware is pretty rare, but I think it doesn’t hurt to run a scan. Of course you could do some hardening, but for a new user I’d say do this at your own risk. https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/guides/linux-hardening.html

Hello!

A tiling window manager and tmux. I don’t like window decorations, I think they’re a waste of precious screen real estate. And tmux… Well. It’s like pringles.

@voxel @linux Customization wise, I’ve tried a handful of desktop environments. KDE Plasma looks sleek and modern to me, but it also is a bit heavier on resources. I’ve gone back to using the Cinnamon desktop environment that ships with Linux Mint. I’ve found it to be reliable, fairly lightweight, and does what I need.

For privacy, I think choosing a privacy respecting browser and installing basic adblocking plugins meets most needs. I use Firefox with Adblock Pro.

In terms of security, IMO just using Linux, having a regular firewall setup and using common sense online and not clicking on anything overtly sketchy probably puts you in ahead of 90% of people on the internet lol. I’m also quite partial to running OpenSnitch just to make sure nothing’s connecting to the internet without my say-so.

For privacy, I think it depends on your threat model but for the average person I’d say a VPN of some sort and mainly just being cautious about how much personal info you post on social media will cover a big chunk of it. Maybe a more privacy conscious email provider like Proton or Tuta over something like Gmail would help too, but none of that is strictly a Linux thing.

Kind of boring answers, sorry! But IMO the boring fundamentals do tend to cover the majority of stuff. Also there are places like privacyguides.org if you want to rabbit-hole it, but be warned that you might end up becoming one of those people who only goes on onion sites and pays for everything with Monero lol.

Also no idea about customizing Cinnamon, apologies.

i really like the look of KDE, though it’s having a version upgrade right now (kde5->6) so you might encounter some bugs when it gets done.

Welcome!

I like a lot of the answers you’ve been getting so far, but I also wanted to add my 2¢.

I’ve been using Linux 2005. I’ve done some distrohopping in my time, but have I also settled into Linux Mint (Cinnamon). My system says it was installed in 2019, but I think I’ve been pretty much exclusively on Mint since ~2015/2016 after #! stopped being developed.

IMHO, you don’t have to do much customizing. I will never insult someone who wants more security but unless you’re running a server directly exposed to the web, I think the defaults and keeping your install up to date is enough. For the most part, privacy has to do more with the individual apps you run and once again comes down to personal preference.

Linux Mint is relatively lean, so optimization isn’t really necessary (I know some people will exclaim they can get a leaner setup by building up from a minimal install, and while they’re technically correct, I have no complaints with LM on a 12yo Thinkpad x201).

As for a “modern” UI, I’m not sure what exactly you’re looking for. I know on Reddit there were a bunch of distrohopping subs and other subs to share your desktop setup/customizations. Those were a good source of inspiration for me. I don’t know if there are some communities like that on lemmy. Personally, I just use the Mint-L-Dark theme, change my background, and use Conky. You can change the theme, use Desklets and Applets, or even use an alternative dock. However, I would recommend if you want to do much more than that, you should just try to another distro that’s designed with the DE, customizations you want. While you can run KDE/Gnome/etc on Linux Mint, the experience can be a bit rough. If, after trying out multiple distros, you find none quite fit your needs, you can choose the one that is closest and customize from there. Or, you can install a minimal/server build and work up from there (though that can also be painful, since you’re almost making your own distro).

Install timeshift for auto backups, its a systemsaver.

If you are looking for UI inspiration, you could give c/unixporn or its counterpart at reddit r/unixporn a look. As a linux novice you might be interested in the KDE or GNOME customizations that are shared in these communities.