Back in May, NordVPN released a graphical user interface for its Linux app, finally giving users an alternative to the command line. With features like Dedicated IP, Double VPN, and Threat Protection via DNS filtering, the GUI eliminated the need for most users to ever open a terminal to secure their connection.
Now, the NordVPN team is open-sourcing that GUI, just like the CLI, which has been open-sourced since 2023. The NordVPN team says that the reason it is doing this is that after launching the Linux GUI, the number of daily active devices grew by more than 70%. This growth signaled to the company that its users "value both usability and security". So, the company is leaning into that by making the application"s code public.
Just as the company promised when it launched the Linux GUI a few months ago, the Snap package has been updated to include the graphical interface. This simplifies installation down to a single command and lets the system handle updates automatically. To install via Snap, enter this command in the terminal:
sudo snap install nordvpn You will still need to log in and connect through the terminal for the first time, but after that, the GUI is good to go.
NordVPN clarifies that while the applications people interact with are open source, the sensitive parts are not. The code for the GUI and the CLI is up on GitHub for anyone to inspect or contribute to. But the company"s "core VPN infrastructure", authentication systems, and other back-end services remain closed source.
On a related note, did you know that NordVPN now has a native app for Windows on ARM? The native client has been around for about a year now, bringing better performance and battery life for an increasing number of devices.
This includes compatibility with devices like the latest Surface Pro series, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, Lenovo Flex 5G, HP Elite Folio, and Acer Spin 7. When the app launched, it was missing some key features like "Threat Protection Pro."
That was a bit of a bummer, but version 7.38.1.0 brought the app to feature parity with the standard Windows version, adding both "Threat Protection Pro" and split tunneling, a feature that lets you decide which of your apps send their data through the encrypted VPN tunnel and which can access the internet directly.