How can I block websites? (programming.dev)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by staircase@programming.dev to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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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.

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[-] Novocirab@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Roughly from high level to low level:

uBlock custom filters
Make pages unusable or less attractive by wonky per-site browser or extension settings
IP and DNS blocks on your local machine
Run a DNS proxy on your local machine and block domains with it
Host a pihole server on a different machine, make it your DNS server and block domains there
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.

this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2026

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