tl;dr what are all the ways I can block a website on linux? Debian if it’s relevant.

I want to stop myself using certain sites. Since I’m reasonably techy and can work round all blocks I’ve come up with, I’ve found an effective approach is to apply as many hurdles as possible, so that visiting the website takes effort.

So far I’ve added the site to ublock’s block list, and redirected sites via /etc/hosts. What other options are there?

While I have admin access to the router, I’m not allowed to block sites there.

  • communism@lemmy.ml
    3·
    2 months ago

    Maybe block on your router and save your router password such that you need to jump through several hoops to unlock it, eg password saved in one password manager DB whose master password is in another DB whose password is in another DB, etc. If you have to unlock like 10 password databases to get into your router, you’ll probably give up on whatever bad habit you were trying to do as it’s too much effort.

    • moonpiedumplings@programming.dev
      1·
      1 month ago

      lmao. I hate takes like this.

      It’s not about making the website impossible to get to, it’s about making the website more difficult and annoying to get to than an alternative productive activity/site.

      Part of making it difficult to get to is technical.

  • barlog@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 months ago

    I use NextDNS and it has feature to block domains. Unfortunately i often unblock it back.

  • Novi Sad@feddit.org
    2·
    2 months ago

    Roughly from high level to low level:

    1. uBlock custom filters
    2. Make pages unusable or less attractive by wonky per-site browser or extension settings
    3. IP and DNS blocks on your local machine
    4. Run a DNS proxy on your local machine and block domains with it
    5. Host a pihole server on a different machine, make it your DNS server and block domains there
    6. IP and DNS blocks in your router (if your current one has no option for this, consider buying another, preferably used)

    Best apply the methods arbitrarily, so that you get even more confused about how you might restore access to a given website.

    Options 5 and 6 may be the only viable ones for locking down certain smartphones or tablets.

  • Holytimes@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    2 months ago

    Just set the site to be hidden? If it’s not in the list you didn’t even know its an option and thus everything else is moot.

    Pretty sure every search engine at thing point has a option to just “not show results from this website” or equivalent.

    Out of sight out of mind.

  • D_Air1@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 months ago

    Any of the adblockers can do this. Pihole, adguard home, technitium. Ublock origin to. You can probably do it pretty painstakingly through the hosts file as well.

  • dieTasse@feddit.orgEnglish
    31·
    2 months ago

    You could try behavioral therapy. Doesn’t need to be psychiatrist (but does have to be professional).

  • FoundFootFootage78@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    DNS level blocking is a massive pain to circumvent. Adguard DNS and NextDNS allow you to do this. Mullvad DNS allows you to block adult websites, gambling sites, and (optionally) social media without creating an account.

  • Mensh123@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    LeechBlock NG isn’t exactly what your’e looking for but it still may help. Of course, it’ll have no effect if UBO and the DNS already shut everything off.

  • undefinedTruth@lemmy.zip
    1·
    2 months ago

    NextDNS is a good option for your use case. It allows you to block entire categories of websites and even has an option to setup a schedule on when you are allowed to access them. It also has blocklists you can pick from and the ability to blacklist and whitelist individual domains. And the free plan is very generous. You can just try it and see how it works for you.