I also use xattrs, too, actually. I generally take care to make sure they’re copied over during backups etc., and when I’m sending files to other people I either tell them about the xattrs or copy them into a text-file that I archive with the file. It’s the nicest way of keeping metadata imo, even if it is a bit opaque.

but that would be a huge pain to keep in sync since both files have to be moved together.

It’s only a pain if you’re moving them by hand, btw. :^)

If you’re moving primarily files, I’d probably use Synthing, which is easy to set up for several devices and is really good at syncing files. If you need to be sending messages like a chat, then you might have some luck with Berty, which can work over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth; though it is in beta.

From what I understand, opening a port isn’t a risk in and of itself — it’s only a risk if the software using the port is insecure! So long as you use reliable software and take care to configure things properly (following through with instructions from a site like ArchWiki or the official documentation helps), you’re good.

CloudFlare is more for DDOS protection, which you almost certainly don’t need . You could always set up DDOS protection later on, if the need ever arises.

want censorship of not allowing any proprietary software to be mentioned

I personally haven’t run into this, though I have seen people immediately hop into a conversation to say, “You shouldn’t use X! It’s proprietary!” Worst-case scenario, I’ve seen social shaming for using proprietary software. Which I think is to some degree OK? Encouraging and advertising proprietary software is unethical, and I think it’s fine to annoy people into not advertising things like Discord. That’s not censorship, it’s just how relationships work, it’s how people associate.

don’t allow any critiques of the software they use because it’s libre software so there are no faults or bad designs.

Again, I haven’t run into this. I have seen people defend even garbage libre software on the basis that half-broken free code is better (ethically) than wonderful non-free code — which is true!

My attitude is if someone changes my code and doesn’t give back, it does not harm me or injury me in any way.

It only hurts the people that use the proprietary software that was made; now they don’t have control over their PC, and are at the mercy of the developer. Really, all they can do is cross their fingers and hope the dev is friendly and not up to anything unscrupulous. Speaking of which…

I also believe libre software can be used for the surveillance of other people, libre software does not be default mean privacy

Not inherently, obviously! No one actually thinks that free software is a magical silver bullet that vanquishes any possibility of malware, spyware, or anything of the sort. The argument is that these sorts of things are, compared to proprietary software, significantly easier to identify and remedy.

For instance, let’s say you find through some network analysis that a program phones home with suspiciously large payloads. You can’t actually see the contents of the packets as they’re encrypted in some weird format you can’t make heads or tails of. With a proprietary program, you’ve hit a brick wall that’s very hard to climb — you can’t find out what the program is sending, not easily. Your only hope is some back-breaking reverse-engineering work, which probably isn’t feasible unless you’re a professional security researcher. With a libre program, though, you could snoop through the code for anything net-related, and discover much more easily that it’s sending your private keys to the project’s server. Heck, with the libre program you could even remove the malware code and use the program again!

One is leaps and bounds more amicable to privacy and security.

A friend indoctrinated me a couple years back, starting with Haken’s Vector and blasting The Cockroach King in her car the first time we hung out. Honestly, I didn’t get it at first! It just sounded like noise to me and I hated it, only listening to be polite. But after a few days, I realized that a specific part of one song was stuck in my head. I’d go back for a relisten only to find out that, suddenly, this song didn’t sound like noise anymore. Then after a couple days, I’d remember another song… Rinse and repeat until I came out loving it, with an appetite for more!

A friend indoctrinated me a couple years back starting Haken’s Vector and blasting The Cockroach King in her car the first time we hung out. Honestly, I didn’t get it at first! It just sounded like noise to me and I hated it, only listening to be polite. But after a few days, I realized that a specific part of one song was stuck in my head. I’d go back for a relisten only to find out that, suddenly, this song didn’t sound like noise anymore. Then after a couple days, I’d remember another song… Rinse and repeat until I came out loving it, with an appetite for more!