This is really a post about digital minimalism. I’m thinking of selling my PC that I built and running a steamdeck + raspberry pi combo. I have the 5 so it’s decent enough for my needs, it would also save a good amount of desk space.
On the matter of privacy and security, would this be better than an x86 processor with the supposed could-be backdoors? Both AMD and Intel has them. Of course the ultimate architecture would be RISC-V, but that’s still in the lab for the time being.
I mean, maybe save some money, but yeah. A portable monitor, keyboard, and mouse and it functions portably.
I already have all those except a portable monitor. Like I said I’m wondering if this approach actually has security benefits.
The Raspberry Pi is probably an okay option but it isn’t that usable as a daily desktop on it’s own.
There are also security drawbacks.
A Chromebook running Linux might be a better option than a Raspberry Pi.
I don’t know your computing habits in much detail. So I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it can’t be a reasonably secure option. It would still have a lot of benefits in terms of privacy but there are drawbacks in terms of security.
Splitting gaming from your “working” computer is probably the biggest privacy win here.
If you already have a Raspberry Pi 5, I would say try to migrate your “work” stuff to the Raspberry Pi and see how it goes.
Strictly speaking, Linux is generally less secure than Windows or Mac.
Linux is the most private by far, can be reasonably secure and it has security advantages but it usually isn’t the best.
Mac especially is more resistant to targeted attacks, but even some Windows features would make some of them more difficult.
The ARM versions of Linux are also mostly on a slower development cycle. At minimum you’re waiting for someone else to re-compile the packages for ARM.
This would mean that security updates can often be slightly slower, and software won’t always “just work” on ARM the way it normally does on Linux.
You’re also far more limited in terms of distro choice.
My own personal opinion based on a few reviews.
It looks like an SSD is either a necessity or a significant convenience before using a Raspberry Pi 5 as a desktop, mostly for system load times, but it’s also more reliable than an SD card.
The things that usually disqualifies Pi’s as main computers in my view is usually video streaming. They tend to stutter with HD video.
Although there are some people that use Pi’s as their “main computer” they usually seem to have something else to deal with more intense tasks.
Unless you explicitly get it for the portability I would always recommend a desktop monitor with a similar price over any portable monitor worth buying.
It’s generally a better option in terms of ergonomics, and the screen tends to be higher quality.
Portable monitor’s aren’t a great option for Raspberry Pi or in general for that matter. My understanding is that the USB-C port is only advanced enough for charging and basic USB peripherals, this makes USB-C screens and docks a lot less useful.
Raspberry Pi’s official portable monitor is a relatively cheap option and will of course work. It uses an HDMI cable and not USB-C and is far less usable with most office laptops though.
Recently, someone on Privacy Guides mentioned “lapdocks” which adds and external keyboard, trackpad and monitor to a smartphone. Using GrapheneOS, this would be a very secure and private computer.
I think @Tazerface is right.
@Tazerface, are you able to run linux applications on GOS?
I never tried but I doubt if they are compatible.
Before I made the jump to Linux, my “computer” I was an Android tablet with a Logitech keyboard and trackball. This was my setup for 3 or 4 years. My plan was to eventually switch to the Pixel tablet but that idea died off when Google cancelled the Pixel tablet 2.
There is an insane amount of apps out there for Android. About the only good solution I wasn’t able to find in that time was an office suite.
If you tested the RPi 5 and decided it’s good enough for you, then yes it sounds like a decent mini desktop option if you’re looking to save on space as well as energy and hardware cost.
If you’re concerned about potential backdoors in AMD/Intel CPUs, you should be concerned about all proprietary hardware as well as who manufactures them and under which jurisdiction. I don’t see any reason to believe ARM/Broadcom would be any better in that regard, they seem to have all the same underlying issues that allows for a potential backdoor.
The architecture alone is only one small part of the equation. An open architecture is required for us to have open hardware which itself is required to build a foundation of transparent hardware, but using an open architecture doesn’t make the hardware or its firmware open source. Most if not all RISC-V CPUs I’ve seen are still proprietary, though maybe it is to varying degrees. Even with the “dream CPU”, you’d still have to worry about a lot of the other proprietary hardware you’re using.
I mean, I think with an emulator you can, but I meant natively. I am waiting a few years to install Graphene.
No. There is no proof of any backdoor in Intel and AMD chips. Its just a waste of time to try to protect against something unproven. Most desktop OSes have quite bad security and I bet that there are many things to improve in your security setup which would actually have an effect against known threats and be more important than worrying about something which is neither in your control, nor realistic.
Changing architecture won’t resolve anything, beyond having less compatibility in terms of both hardware and software on the Pi. A stronger long term option would be having an x86 machine that allows some level of expansion in terms of performance, disks, etc.
At least, this is what I’ve discovered. I still use my Pi devices, but I do not recommend them over a used thin client or some other machine.
Just know it will not be more secure.