Edit: thank you all for your answers, much appreciated to make an informed choice about the switch to linux.
As per title. I want to get rid of windows and switch to linux.
I use all the proton products, both on android and windows.
Is there anything i need to take into account, concerning proton?
I know there is a linux version for vpn. But i seem to recall there isn’t yet for the drive app but it was in the works? I have no idea how long that would take though, this year, next year?
The biggest issue for me is the VPN client support. It “works” but lacks some notable features such as port forwarding for torrents.
I simply live without this feature and do not use the client at all. I have wireguard installed with the configs you download from the website as a starting point. I also set it up so that connections without the wireguard interface are blocked by default except for within my local network and it’s hooked into systemd so I can manually start and stop it. This was non-trivial and I don’t suggest doing this.
It seems that they still need to do some work to improve the vpn, not sure if they are actively working on that.
I wish they had a roadmap for all their products, actually. Only occasionally i see one pop up on their blog.
Thanks for letting me know. Thankfully, for me the vpn is their least important product, but for many it could be an important issue when switching to linux.
To reply to your comment: they do send out emails regarding product development occasionally but there’s no publicly available “roadmap”. I can understand why as development times are hard to predict, so I don’t fault them for that.
I can say that even though they are majorly updating things every week, they do make constant progress and release new products. I’ve been a subscriber for years, back when it was only “ProtonMail”.
Now we have Proton Mail, VPN, Calendar, Drive, and Proton Pass. I’m glad my money has been supporting the vision and development of all these great privacy-first services. For me that’s why I have been a loyal customer all these years.
Thank you for the link.
While it’s hard to predict how much time it takes to develop things, it would be nice to have a sneak peek as to what they are working on exactly.
For the rest, i agree with you; like you, i’ve been using proton for years (paid), and recently upgraded to unlimited.
(For people that find it very pricey, i can only say that i love their products, their customer service is good, and i also want to support their mission).
I used to use VPN on Ubuntu and couldn’t get qBittorrent to work. If I remember correctly, I needed to do something with ports and the Linux client didn’t have that option.
You’re essentially limited to the browser for Calendar or Drive (but Windows/Mac are also limited to browser for Calendar), but everything else at least functions using their associated apps or extensions. VPN doesn’t have all the features of the Windows or Mac versions yet but Proton is working on that. It’s recommended to use the CLI for VPN instead of the app since the current app’s functionality will limit you even more. They have a new app in beta, though.
OK, yes, i thought most things would probably work, apart from (automated) Drive.
I did not know that VPN still had limited features though, so thank you for letting me know!
I will check out the CLI
Thanks for your reply.
It is annoying to set up but works exceedingly well afterwards. And one alternative is to use the browser addon if you only use the VPN browsing Lemmy ;)
I have had issues with VPN. Every now and then it broke due to update in some dependency. I got tired of that crap and switched to openvpn and proton config files.
Good to know about the VPN issues.
And yes, i suspected Drive would only work on the browser.
It’s unfortunate no one seems to know how long it will take for a linux version.
The GUI app is terrible for VPN. It randomly logs me out and sometimes it refuses to connect. I have been relying on the CLI and it works great. After setting up auto-connect, you won’t even have to touch it most of the times.
I use proton stuff on linux. Vpn works, email works with a kludge called protonmail-bridge, drive only works via browser interface which is a hassle because it can’t be automated. Password manager works as a firefox extension. I don’t use calendar or contacts. Happy customer.
rclone has support for Proton Drive. It’s in beta I think. Unfortunately Protons API isn’t published so rclone’s implementation is a reverse engineered one and may not be reliable long term.
Also disclaimer: I haven’t tried out rclone. Haven’t had time to set it up yet
Can you not access things such as “the drive” via a browser?
I was considering upgrading from mail only that I use at the moment but if I have to download an application just to access the cloud storage then fuck that!
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !protonprivacy@lemmy.world
Empowering you to choose a better internet where privacy is the default. Protect yourself online with
Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive. Proton Pass and SimpleLogin.
Proton Mail is the world’s largest secure email provider. Swiss, end-to-end encrypted, private, and free.
Proton VPN is the world’s only open-source, publicly audited, unlimited and free VPN. Swiss-based, no-ads, and no-logs.
Proton Calendar is the world’s first end-to-end encrypted calendar that allows you to keep your life private.
Proton Drive is a free end-to-end encrypted cloud storage that allows you to securely backup and share your files. It’s open source, publicly audited, and Swiss-based.
Proton Pass Proton Pass is a free and open-source password manager which brings a higher level of security with rigorous end-to-end encryption of all data (including usernames, URLs, notes, and more) and email alias support.
SimpleLogin lets you send and receive emails anonymously via easily-generated unique email aliases.
The biggest issue for me is the VPN client support. It “works” but lacks some notable features such as port forwarding for torrents.
I simply live without this feature and do not use the client at all. I have wireguard installed with the configs you download from the website as a starting point. I also set it up so that connections without the wireguard interface are blocked by default except for within my local network and it’s hooked into systemd so I can manually start and stop it. This was non-trivial and I don’t suggest doing this.
It seems that they still need to do some work to improve the vpn, not sure if they are actively working on that. I wish they had a roadmap for all their products, actually. Only occasionally i see one pop up on their blog.
Thanks for letting me know. Thankfully, for me the vpn is their least important product, but for many it could be an important issue when switching to linux.
After I posted my comment I found this https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-prerelease/
To reply to your comment: they do send out emails regarding product development occasionally but there’s no publicly available “roadmap”. I can understand why as development times are hard to predict, so I don’t fault them for that.
I can say that even though they are majorly updating things every week, they do make constant progress and release new products. I’ve been a subscriber for years, back when it was only “ProtonMail”.
Now we have Proton Mail, VPN, Calendar, Drive, and Proton Pass. I’m glad my money has been supporting the vision and development of all these great privacy-first services. For me that’s why I have been a loyal customer all these years.
Thank you for the link. While it’s hard to predict how much time it takes to develop things, it would be nice to have a sneak peek as to what they are working on exactly.
For the rest, i agree with you; like you, i’ve been using proton for years (paid), and recently upgraded to unlimited. (For people that find it very pricey, i can only say that i love their products, their customer service is good, and i also want to support their mission).
I used to use VPN on Ubuntu and couldn’t get qBittorrent to work. If I remember correctly, I needed to do something with ports and the Linux client didn’t have that option.
You’re essentially limited to the browser for Calendar or Drive (but Windows/Mac are also limited to browser for Calendar), but everything else at least functions using their associated apps or extensions. VPN doesn’t have all the features of the Windows or Mac versions yet but Proton is working on that. It’s recommended to use the CLI for VPN instead of the app since the current app’s functionality will limit you even more. They have a new app in beta, though.
OK, yes, i thought most things would probably work, apart from (automated) Drive. I did not know that VPN still had limited features though, so thank you for letting me know! I will check out the CLI Thanks for your reply.
It is annoying to set up but works exceedingly well afterwards. And one alternative is to use the browser addon if you only use the VPN browsing Lemmy ;)
This can help you with the CLI - https://blog.aiquiral.me/proton-vpn-linux-guide/
I have had issues with VPN. Every now and then it broke due to update in some dependency. I got tired of that crap and switched to openvpn and proton config files.
Drive works only via browser.
Good to know about the VPN issues. And yes, i suspected Drive would only work on the browser. It’s unfortunate no one seems to know how long it will take for a linux version.
Just to chime in, I absolutely cannot get VPN to work on the latest Fedora. Seems to work okay on Mint.
They did just release a new GUI, but not sure if that will do anything to help with the back end.
The GUI app is terrible for VPN. It randomly logs me out and sometimes it refuses to connect. I have been relying on the CLI and it works great. After setting up auto-connect, you won’t even have to touch it most of the times.
Besides drive it works with everything (drive only through browser)
Hope Drive gets support some time.
I use proton stuff on linux. Vpn works, email works with a kludge called protonmail-bridge, drive only works via browser interface which is a hassle because it can’t be automated. Password manager works as a firefox extension. I don’t use calendar or contacts. Happy customer.
rclone has support for Proton Drive. It’s in beta I think. Unfortunately Protons API isn’t published so rclone’s implementation is a reverse engineered one and may not be reliable long term.
Also disclaimer: I haven’t tried out rclone. Haven’t had time to set it up yet
I’ve tried it. It works great.
I find it strange that they don’t have any published API docs. What’s the strategy?
I see people running windows vms and using them to sync the drive.
I use email in firefox (and mobile)
Can you not access things such as “the drive” via a browser?
I was considering upgrading from mail only that I use at the moment but if I have to download an application just to access the cloud storage then fuck that!
Yes, but not automated
Ah I see, fair enough. Sorry I can’t help with your actual question though :D
That’s ok :-)
There is no linux app for proton drive
I hope it will be released this year, but i don’t know whether it’s a priority for their to do list