Is the repo private, or does GitLab seriously require an account now to view repos?

Technically the Linux kernel is just an interface with lots of modules

Cookie banner reduction already exists usint uBlock. You just need to enable some additional lists

Another simpler frontend for iptables I think is well suited for desktop environemnts is ufw. It does what it’s supposed to do and is extremely simple to use

Nowadays it is almost impossible to get a virus just from visiting websites. As for security recommendations I would recommend never running applications as roo that 100% don’t need it, as for 3rd party repos I would always be a by mindful of the apps but generally there isn’t too much of a risk, of getting a virus.

How did you create the android-style menu in the top right?

My experience with hosting mail was very good. I host my mail using Mailu, which is just a docker compose file and premade scripts for the usual mail stack software (Postfix, Dovecot, Nginx etc.). I hosy it on my home network using a raspberry pi. I score 9.8 on mail tester and my mail rarely ever lands in spam.

In total I spent maybe 3 hours setting everything up including my domain and 2 hours debugging issues. I honestly recommend self hosting mail.