Installing, properly configuring and maintaining software like I2P, Tor, full-disk encryption seem difficult to me and has many non-obvious pitfalls. Instead of going through confusing tutorials and trying to get it right, I would rather use turn-key, ready-to-use solutions made by someone more versed than me.
Ubuntu allows you to set up an encrypted LVM on a whole drive with a single setting in the installer. Just grab the ISO with the alternate installer[1] and choose "use the whole disk for encrypted LVM" (or compatible) in the partitioning tool. The installer also allows for advanced configuration, like setting up swap and /tmp on partitions encrypted with one-time keys, while still making it fairly difficult to screw up.
Tails comes with preinstalled and preconfigured Tor and I2P and, what's important, with almost all other connectivity blocked. Just download it[2], verify the signatures, and put on a USB key. Right now, it's difficult to add persistent storage[3] but they're working on it. Also, as an additional precaution, physically removing the USB key will make Tails shut down and wipe memory.
The complexity and presentation of encryption tools are the biggest things preventing them from being used by everyday people. I have a CS degree from a university you've heard of, have been using Linux for much of my computing career, and am a professional programmer, and even I found the I2P front page and "gentle introduction" intimidating and obtuse. I spent 15 minutes reading it and I literally have no idea exactly what it does.
It's even more important to start encrypting everything when agencies like the NSA are building datacenters of never-before-seen size to store everyone's communications forever. Without getting too tin-foil-hat about things, it's not a big stretch for me to imagine--given what NSA is publicly doing today--a world where the government can pull up things you said in an offhand email two decades ago as evidence against you.
Encryption everywhere is so important now and will only get more important as governments wise up to technology. Someone needs to make it easy for people to do.
Can I suggest the "Tor Browser Bundle[1]" -- I've only tried it on Mac OS X, but it seems to nicely, and easily integrate a Tor proxy and a pre-configured Firefox for one-click anonymous browsing.
I would rather use turn-key, ready-to-use solutions made by someone more versed than me.
Privacy doesn't work like that. It isn't set-it-and-forget-it. If you aren't constantly policing yourself, all the full-disk encryption and Tor networks in the world can't keep you anonymous.
Switching on FileVault 2 on OSX makes things significantly more work and difficult for someone to attack you on that vector. Many times all you need is to make it annoying and expensive enough to be secure.
Most people in the USA have locks that can be picked in 10 seconds with an auto jiggler and windows that can be broken with a large rock. Most people don't have walls, interior locks and bars that will start making thieves to carry power tools. Yet that is enough to stop a lot of casual theft.
Privacy doesn't, but encryption does. You don't want to set up Tor or I2P only to find out later that traffic you thought was encrypted actually wasn't.
Ubuntu allows you to set up an encrypted LVM on a whole drive with a single setting in the installer. Just grab the ISO with the alternate installer[1] and choose "use the whole disk for encrypted LVM" (or compatible) in the partitioning tool. The installer also allows for advanced configuration, like setting up swap and /tmp on partitions encrypted with one-time keys, while still making it fairly difficult to screw up.
Tails comes with preinstalled and preconfigured Tor and I2P and, what's important, with almost all other connectivity blocked. Just download it[2], verify the signatures, and put on a USB key. Right now, it's difficult to add persistent storage[3] but they're working on it. Also, as an additional precaution, physically removing the USB key will make Tails shut down and wipe memory.
[1] http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/alternative-download#a... [2] https://tails.boum.org/index.en.html [3] https://tails.boum.org/forum/How_do_I_do_what_unetbootin_doe...