Include `nvme-cli` by default
Originally created by @anon_1873 on #16674 (Redmine)
Tails is very good as a disk formatting/secure erase tool. The current
version of Tails includes hdparm
and gnome-disks
by default, and as
a result, users can easily perform ATA secure erase command on their
internal HDDs and SATA SSDs. Although there are other formatting tools
that can perform the same tasks, like Parted Magic and GParted, I
personally think Tails is better at the job because it’s lightweight,
free, and compatible with many hardwares.
And, using and even advertising Tails as a disk formatting utility have
a potential to provide cover to dissidents who have to use Tails for
secure, private communication. Currently, because Tails is only
marketed as a privacy and government-avoiding tool, using Tails or even
connecting to tails.boum.org
via home Internet can look suspicious to
friends, local network administrators (e.g., schools), and government
officials (think of NSA’s XKeyscore program). If many people use Tails
as a formatting utility, using Tails will look less suspicious.
However, neither hdparm
nor the current version of gnome-disks
support secure-erasing internal NVMe SSDs. Because more and more PCs
nowadays have NVMe SSDs, this somewhat undermines Tails’ ability to
format any PCs that a user might encounter. Including nvme-cli
by
default might resolve this.