Having JOS files on your hard drive

[Syntax]

Depending on what country you are in it could definitely be dangerous. It could be dangerous even having them on an external drive if it is not properly encrypted. If I were you I would look into veracrypt for security. I have not explored the limitations of veracrypt with linux operating systems but you should be able to make a "main" encrypted system and then a "dummy" encrypted system. Essentially if you input password 1 then the dummy system will be loaded and your main system will remain hidden as long as you do not reveal the password to it.

Here is the veracrypt website if you are interested.
https://www.veracrypt.fr/ - main page
https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Downloads.html - download page

And since you have mint and veracrypt doesn't have a custom made installer for mint(Although the generic installer SHOULD work) here is an old post from 2018 discussing how to install on mint if the generic installer doesn't work.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=275495

 

[Shrekelstein]

It's not much of a problem if your hard drive is encrypted and you're not using Windows (Windows encryption has a backdoor). The best is to store it in something external encrypted. Either a hard drive or even better a USB drive with Tails in which you have enabled Encrypted Persistent Storage. IIRC in a 16 Gb USB drive you can store at least 8 Gb of files this way.

 

[Way_Seeker666]

I have linux mint, I was wondering if having JoS and National Socialist material is dangerous, right now I have all that material on my external drive but I was was wondering if having it directly on my laptop would compromise me in some way.

Not under any normal circumstances and your AoP will surely keep you safe from such out of the ordinary things that would make this a risk, as long as you take some reasonable measures. To be sure just encrypt it under another name and keep your external under wraps.
The material is not illegal so only something strange and rather extreme would make it unsafe, as long as only you are using the drive and laptop.

 

[Henu the Great]

Encrypt your hard drive(s). Secure the internet connection with a software firewall.

As long as info is not leaking outside, there is zero risk. Linux can be customized to ones needs pretty well and software exists to monitor the happenings of your OS.

 

[FancyMancy]

Who has access to it? Do you browse dodgy sites and download dodgy things on it? Security is as strong as its weakest link.