How to choose, use and configure a VPN in OLPC OS (One Laptop Per Child Operating System) (My opinion)

VPN Solutions Tailored for OLPC OS

OLPC OS (One Laptop Per Child) is a Fedora‐derived distribution optimised for the low‐power ARM hardware found on XO laptops. It uses the YUM/DNF package manager, and its primary interface is the Sugar desktop environment (with occasional support for lightweight Xfce/LXDE spin-offs). Users are typically schoolchildren or educators in bandwidth-constrained, connectivity-variable environments. When choosing a VPN for OLPC OS, look for:

ARM‐compatible packages or install methods
Minimal CPU/memory overhead (crucial on 433 MHz–1 GHz CPUs with 256–512 MB RAM)
Command-line friendliness (Sugar lacks a conventional system tray)
Availability via YUM/DNF repos for easy updates

Most Suitable VPNs for OLPC OS

Based on those criteria, the following make the shortlist:

OpenVPN (Community) – Ultra-light, repo-native, wide provider support.
ProtonVPN – Official Fedora/Yum repo with ARM builds and WireGuard support.
Mullvad – Excellent privacy focus and WireGuard support, but no ARM-native client package (requires manual build).

Comparison Table

VPN Service	Protocols	ARM Support	Repo Availability	Link
OpenVPN	OpenVPN	Yes (Fedora/RPM)	Default OLPC OS repo	OpenVPN Community
ProtonVPN	OpenVPN, WireGuard	Yes (official ARM builds)	ProtonVPN Fedora/YUM	ProtonVPN
Mullvad	OpenVPN, WireGuard	No (x86_64 only client)	None (manual RPM build)	Mullvad VPN

Installation Configuration

1. OpenVPN (Community)

OpenVPN is the go-to choice for resource-limited systems. OLPC OS includes it out of the box.

Install the client and NetworkManager plugin:

sudo dnf install -y openvpn NetworkManager-openvpn

Copy your provider or self-hosted .ovpn file into /etc/openvpn/client/ (create the folder if it doesn’t exist):

sudo mkdir -p /etc/openvpn/client
sudo cp ~/Downloads/your-vpn-config.ovpn /etc/openvpn/client/client.conf

Start and enable the service:

sudo systemctl enable --now openvpn-client@client

Check status:

systemctl status openvpn-client@client

2. ProtonVPN (CLI)

ProtonVPN provides an official Fedora/YUM repository with ARM builds and supports both OpenVPN WireGuard.

1. Add the official repo:

sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://repo.protonvpn.com/fedora/protonvpn.repo

2. Install the ProtonVPN CLI its dependencies:

sudo dnf install -y protonvpn-cli

3. Initialize the CLI and login (you’ll need your ProtonVPN credentials):

protonvpn-cli login your_username

4. Connect using WireGuard for best performance:

protonvpn-cli c --wireguard

Or connect via OpenVPN if you prefer:

protonvpn-cli c --protocol openvpn

5. To disconnect:

protonvpn-cli d

3. Mullvad (Manual Build)

Because Mullvad’s official Linux client is x86_64-only, you’ll need to compile from source on ARM. This is more involved and better suited to advanced users:

Install build dependencies:

sudo dnf install -y qt5-qtbase-devel qt5-qtsvg-devel 
    gcc-c   make cmake git openvpn wireguard-tools

Clone build:

git clone https://github.com/mullvad/mullvadvpn-app.git
cd mullvadvpn-app
mkdir build  cd build
cmake ..  make
sudo make install

Run log in:

mullvad-vpn

Given the manual steps and hardware constraints, Mullvad is best for those comfortable with ARM cross-compilation.

Conclusion

For OLPC OS users on ARM-based XO machines, OpenVPN and ProtonVPN are the most straightforward, repo-native options with minimal performance impact. Mullvad remains an excellent privacy choice but demands extra effort to get running on ARM. Whichever you choose, command-line management and lightweight fundamentals ensure a stable VPN experience on low-spec hardware.

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