For My personal and private miscellanous thoughts i have been writing on a diary, but i always need to have it with me and (im kinda ashamed) i dont write good if i write as fast as on computer. I obviously cant copy/paste and i use a pen. I also find myself better with a keyboard so using a computer is what i think the most efficent way. Now, my daily driver (and what im writing this on) is a MacBookAir 2013 11" with (still) MacOS 10.14.5 installed and to write I’d use LibreOffice (duh). I know thou that this isnt private, its connected to the internet and its still using MacOS. I know a bit about technology (i find it weird for someone with zero knowledge of it having even found lemmy, but who knows), but i am certanly no expert. That’s why i am asking you how could i write on a computer privately. Nothing needs to get online but i will need to atleast have other documents or documents itself come in trough a USB probably. I am certain i need to install a Linux distro or a BSD. Keep in mind that if i need that machine not on the internet id need to have another machine wich is and from this machine would probably need to get stuff out and into the “private one” with a USB. This is probably confusing and if it isnt relative to the sub and needs to be deleted, please warn me with a comment so i can copy and save this post to post it somwhere else before it gets deleted.
Just kidding… mostly.
Realistically, your diary is safe enough on your Mac. (By the way: you say “I am certain I need to install a Linux distro or a BSD,” but technically, MacOS already is a BSD.) IMO the main threat vector you have to worry about would be Apple changing something to start harvesting your data itself, either for its own purposes (e.g. AI training) or legal compliance with Orwellian bullshit. That risk is a lot lower than the certainty it is with Windows, but it’s still proprietary software so it can’t be zero.
If you’re really that paranoid about it, any device without an Internet connection would do just fine, including something that isn’t on the Internet because it’s too old to be compatible with it (hence the typewriter, but a very old computer running DOS would do fine, too.) Otherwise, if you want a maximally-paranoid but still modern system, look into something like Tails or Qubes OS on a PC, or Graphene OS on a mobile device.
omg an olivetti!
btw yeah ty
You could perhaps have TailsOS on a USB drive (with persistent storage enabled on the drive: for your writings), and after use remove the drive from the device and keep it well hidden. That seems like the most attainable method as far as I’m aware.
Depends on your threat model and what you’re intending to guard against. You’re running an unsupported version of macOS so we’ll address that first, if you don’t mind losing 32-bit app support I would consider upgrading to Catalina at least. 10.14 Mojave stopped receiving security updates in 2021.
If you’re worried about someone physically getting your laptop I would enable FileVault in System Preferences with a strong password (you can enable it for the boot drive and also removable drives like USB sticks), and make sure you shut the laptop down whenever you’re leaving it somewhere.
TextEdit can work for writing simple documents but LibreOffice is a good option too, but the macOS port isn’t very good (lots of bugs and it runs slow af for me but YMMV)
There is no way to avoid your writing getting copied if its in digital form because even on a single device it must make copies of it in order to function. So your choices are a) encrypt it or b) don’t digitize it.
If you’re worried about it, zip the file up in a password protected archive. No need to change oses or anything like that.
