Why Oniux Beats VPNs: The Ultimate Linux Privacy Tool from Tor

🛡️ Oniux: The Privacy Weapon That VPNs Don’t Want You to Know About

🚫 Tired of VPNs that promise anonymity but profit from your data? Oniux, the Tor Project’s latest creation, offers a radically different approach: total traffic isolation for any Linux app — with real privacy, no strings attached. While many VPNs log, analyze, and sometimes sell your activity, Oniux reroutes everything through the Tor network, locking down leaks and putting you in control.

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❌ Why VPNs Aren’t Enough

🔍 VPN providers often claim to protect your identity, but many operate as for-profit businesses — some even based in countries with weak privacy laws. Logs can be kept. Data can be sold. And if a VPN fails, your system may still leak DNS requests or other traffic.

✅ In contrast, Tor is built from the ground up for privacy, decentralization, and resistance to surveillance.

With Oniux, the Tor Project brings that level of anonymity directly to your Linux applications. No need to trust third parties — everything runs in a fully isolated environment.

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🧰 What is Oniux?

Oniux is an open-source command-line utility that uses Linux namespaces to isolate any application and ensure its network traffic is routed exclusively through the Tor network. Unlike traditional tools like Torsocks or VPNs, which rely on trust in external services or libraries, Oniux operates at the kernel level for airtight security.

🔑 Key Features

• 🔐 No Leaks, No Logs: Complete traffic isolation — your data never touches your real network interfaces.
• 🧅 Tor-Based Routing: Compatible with both IPv6 and onion services.
• ⚙️ Universal Compatibility: Works with any Linux app, CLI or GUI.
• 💸 No VPN Needed: Forget subscriptions and sketchy providers — anonymity is built-in.
• 👁️‍🗨️ Open Source & Auditable: Built by the Tor Project using Rust and Arti.

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⚙️ How Oniux Works

Oniux uses Linux namespaces, a kernel feature, to spin up isolated processes. Here’s what it does under the hood:

1. 🧬 Launches an Isolated Process: Uses clone(2) to create a separate environment with isolated network, user, and mount namespaces.
2. 🧾 Custom DNS and /proc: Ensures DNS resolution occurs through Tor and not your host system.
3. 🌐 Virtual Tor Interface: Sets up a TUN device (onion0) via onionmasq, a tool that handles Tor-based routing.
4. 🛡️ Secure Execution: The isolated app never sees your main network — all its traffic flows through the Tor overlay.

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🥊 Oniux vs VPNs vs Torsocks

🔍 Feature	🛡️ Oniux	🔒 VPNs	🧦 Torsocks
Trust Model	Trust no one — isolation enforced	Trust the provider	Trust system libraries
Risk of Traffic Leaks	❌ None	⚠️ Medium to High (DNS leaks)	⚠️ Medium (can be bypassed)
Logs & Data Collection	🔐 None	🕵️ Varies — some sell your data	🔐 None, but vulnerable
Platform Support	🐧 Linux only	💻 Multi-platform	💻 Multi-platform
Network Isolation	🧱 Kernel-level namespaces	❌ No	❌ No
Uses Tor	✅ Yes (Arti + onionmasq)	❌ No	✅ Yes (Tor daemon)
Language	🦀 Rust	—	👨‍💻 C

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🛠️ How to Install Oniux

You’ll need a Linux system with Rust installed. Then simply run:

git clone https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/oniux.git
cd oniux
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/oniux /usr/local/bin/

💡 Example Usage:

oniux curl https://icanhazip.com
oniux bash
oniux hexchat

🧪 Enable debug logs:

RUST_LOG=debug oniux curl https://icanhazip.com

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🔚 Final Thoughts: Ditch the VPN, Use Tor the Right Way

🧠 VPNs are useful in some contexts — but they’re not anonymity tools. If you want true privacy, it’s time to take control. Oniux isolates your apps, routes traffic through Tor, and eliminates the weak links. It’s free, open-source, and made by the same people who built the Tor network.

💥 Try Oniux today and stop trusting VPNs with your identity.

🔗 Visit the Tor Project blog or the Oniux GitLab repository to learn more and contribute.

🙌 Your privacy deserves better. Give it the protection it needs.