These days there are plenty of Password managers out there, all providing the same base promise; making you more secure by using random password for each of the accounts you have. Obviously this has one caveat, where you have “keys to the kingdom” scenario where you only have to watch that one account, and if it gets compromised, attacker would have access to all of your accounts. Going into that debate though is beyond the scope of this article. Let’s just say I’m firmly on the side for password managers, because alternatives suck.
I’ve used various password managers throughout the years, but that’s the topic for another article as well. This article is basically about my lastest journey with an online password manager; 1Password.
Until recently, 1Password “supported Linux” only in the form of browser extension. That has changed. They also have the desktop application now.
1Password download page.
It really strikes me how they went all in with Linux support. For starters, they could have created the Snap or Flatpak or AppImage package and call it a day, but no, they wanted to be a good Linux citizen and embrace each platform. As the screenshot shows, they offer both .deb and .rpm packages.
This is not where the support for Linux stops. With each update they cram more and more features into the app, and I am glad to say that Linux is the first-class citizen of the 1Passwordlandia :-)
Linux Releases page?! constantly gets new entries nicely showcasing the new features. Although there is some feature gap with other platforms, I have to say; it’s pretty narrow as I haven’t really had any stumbling blocks in functionality as opposed to MacOS version for example. There are also some native features for Linux like for example unlocking the account with system credentials.
App itself might not be written in the “Linux Native” technologies, such as GTK, QT etc., but in this case, I think it is for the better.
If you are Linux and 1Password user and haven’t tried the desktop app yet, I encourage you to do so.
And if you’re in search for an online password manager that does its job well, has nice and polished applications accross all of the major platforms, give 1Password a try. They offer 14 day trial so if you don’t like it you can always cancel it.