VPN accessibility?

Tue Oct 6 16:44:36 UTC 2020

Hi,

Tim, thanks for the additional information.
SL, for Slint:

I just checked, both openconnect and wiraguard are available
from https://slackbuilds.org.

For the latter you need to get both wireguard-linux-compat
and wireguard-tools.

Links below:
http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2/network/openconnect/
http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2/network/wireguard-linux-compat/
http://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2/network/wireguard-tools/

Cheers, Didier

PS I rent a vps @ linode, 5 $/month for the Slint website
https://slint.fr inclduing a wiki, a blog and my email server.

Their service and support are outstanding.

Le 06/10/2020 à 16:44, Linux for blind general discussion a écrit :
> Tim here.  There are three major VPN options around and most VPN
> providers support one or more of them.
> 
> 1) OpenVPN:  This is the most common, having open-source clients and
> servers.  It's a bit annoying to configure, but fairly popular.  Most
> of the free and low-cost VPN providers offer this.
> 
> 2) openconnect:  This is a Cisco technology (which appears to be used
> by some other companies too).  The openconnect client is open source
> but I don't think the server component is.  This is frequently used
> in corporate environments.  This is my least favorite of them.
> 
> 3) wireguard: this is a new contender.  It's smaller, a lot less
> complex, and a lot easier to manually configure if all you want is to
> link to machines securely (it doesn't scale quite as nicely to having
> hundreds or thousands of VPN clients).
> 
> 4) while not a complete VPN solution, you can also tunnel certain
> ports over SSH which can be a fast way to securely connect without
> the hassle of setting up a VPN.  I use this for connecting from home
> to a particular service behind the firewall at my day-job.
> 
> You don't fully detail what you're trying to connect to a VPN and why.
> Reasons might include
> 
> - you trust your VPN provider more than you trust your ISP
> 
> - you want to make your connection appear as if you are in a
>   different location
> 
> - you have one or more servers "out there" and want to connect them
>   as if they're in a local network
> 
> - you have a phone or other mobile device and want to connect it back
>   to a more trusted endpoint even if you're on free/public wifi out
>   and about
> 
> Using a VPN only securely moves the endpoint of your connection to
> another location.  My preference is to get a small VPS box (I have
> one for my website & mail already) and have it act as my VPN
> end-point (either using OpenVPN or WireGuard).  This lets my home
> devices or mobile devices appear to be coming from the data-center
> housing my VPS, rather than disclosing my home IP.  I like both OVH
> and Vultr for a low-end box that can meet these needs for ~$3.50
> (USD) per month.
> 
> https://us.ovh.com/us/order/vps/?v=3#/vps/build?selection=~(range~'Starter~flavor~'vps-starter-1-2-20~datacenters~(BHS~1)~pricingMode~'default)
> 
> https://www.vultr.com/products/cloud-compute/#pricing
> 
> (beware that Vultr offers a cheaper IPv6-only server, but you likely
> need/want IPv4 too, so don't skimp there)  Digital Ocean and Linode
> also offer similar systems though tend to be slightly pricier at
> $5/mo.
> 
> On the flip side, if you want to secure your mobile while out and
> about, you can set up either OpenVPN or WireGuard on your home
> machine, forward your router's corresponding ports to your interal
> machine, and then have your mobile connect via OpenVPN/WireGuard back
> to your home machine to at least give you the same security you'd
> otherwise have at home.
> 
> Funny, as I'm wrapping up typing this, the most recent Hacker Public
> Radio podcast episode was about setting up a free/low-cost VPN
> 
> http://hackerpublicradio.org/eps.php?id=3177
> 
> just in case you want to give that a listen.
> 
> Hopefully this gives you some ideas and helps clarify what you're
> asking for.
> 
> -tim
> 
> 
> 
> On October  6, 2020, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>> I am about to install Slint for the first time, so if all goes
>> well, I should be having my first Linux OS up and running soon.
>> There might be unexpected challenges as a newbie, but overall, I
>> hope it goes well.I'm looking into VPN options for once I get the
>> OS installed. I know some VPN services have free trials, but I'd
>> rather just ask you guys which VPN do you think has a fairly
>> accessible app once you download it on Linux? Thanks, SL