Portable, anti-surveillance Linux distro Tails wants to protect your data at shutdown

The Tor Project announced a new release for its privacy-centered Linux distribution, Tails. Version 7.10 of Tails brings an updated shutdown procedure and a new default video application. Here are the details.

What's new

• Standard shutdown: Tails will now use a GNOME-derived shutdown procedure by default, and one effect is that it will try to protect any unsaved work from being lost.
  • If you initiate a shutdown and there are still programs running that report unsaved work, you'll be prompted to cancel the shutdown and properly save that work. The prompt will give you 60 seconds to make this decision before forcing the shutdown.
  • You can still initiate an emergency shutdown by removing the USB drive or ejecting the DVD that Tails is running off of. In that case, you won't have the opportunity to save any work, and any persistent storage setup may break.
• Celluloid video player: GNOME Videos (aka Totem), the preinstalled, default video player on Tails has been replaced with an app called Celluloid. According to the Tails 7.10 announcement, Celluloid is "a more modern and reliable video player."
  • While Celluloid normally can be used to access remote video streams, Tails' implementation has zero internet access.
  • Also noted is the fact that Celluloid may not work on pre-2011 computers, presumably referring to computers with 32-bit processors.

Wayland is coming to Linux Mint (and maybe a new kind of release)

Also, people with brand new PCs should check out the new HWE release.

New In LinuxJordan Gloor

What's getting better

• Tor Browser: The Tor Project's privacy-oriented browser was upgraded to its latest version, Tor Browser 15.0.19. It's based on Firefox ESR 140.13
• The package base: Tails 7.10 upgrades its Debian Linux base to Trixie 13.6, giving you access to the upgrades in that Debian release.

Zooming out

Why this update matters: Increased threats to freedom and privacy across the world have resulted in an increased need for and attention on anti-surveillance solutions like Tails Linux. Updates like this one mean continued security for those facing threats from authoritarian governments and bad actors.

My take: When I last checked in on Tails at version 7.8, it had just dropped Mozilla Thunderbird because of release schedule incongruity. Mozilla decided to shift the release schedule of Firefox after version 153, so I wonder if or how that might affect future Tor Browser and Tails releases.

Diving in

The fineprint: If you want to learn more, you can check out the official Tails release announcement or get even more details in the full Tails changelog.

Get it now: If you want to upgrade your Tails instance to version 7.10, I recommend reading the official documentation on upgrading Tails since it can depend on your setup. If you want to dive into Tails for the first time, visit the Tails installation page.