Mon Jan 18, 2021
I just uninstalled Firefox, Chromium and Tor from this computer which I will use only for work, leaving the laptop for e-mail, documentation and other websites.
$ sudo apt remove firefox
$ sudo apt remove chromium-browser
$ rm -rf bin/tor-browser_en-US/
A few days ago I tried a softer approach: I wrote a script that asked for confirmation when opening Tor:
#!/usr/bin/fish
zenity --question --text "Do you really need tor? It's better to go back to Idea..."
if test $status -eq 0
cd /home/funpro/bin/tor-browser_en-US
/home/funpro/bin/tor-browser_en-US/start-tor-browser.desktop
end
I also added a plugin to Firefox called “Block Site” to block non-whitelisted pages. I whitelisted some domains used for work. When I wanted to load anything else it asked for a password. If I decided to enter the password the requested site would be available for 5 minutes.
It worked for a few days but I easily went back into old habits by disabling the Firefox plugin when it was time for accesing websites in the evening, then forgot to re-enable the plugin. The confirmation dialog I set up in Tor was not a strong deterrent either.
By having two computers in different locations for different uses I want to make it obvious to myself if I’m working or doing something else. Let’s see how it goes :)