New Toys!
 

One thing i love about Linux is the many different distros! And today i decided to spend a a little on a new lesser expensive laptop to dual boot Ubuntu and Kali.. No Windows at all on that machine. I have an outlook web access account for any microsoft needs. The new machine should be here by the weekend! Cant wait to get it all installed. Im doing it this way to force my hand to use it more often. I am also in school for InfoSec so it makes sense to me. Ubuntu is traditional it seems while kali is the pen-testing king

-Randy

Any suggestions? Oradvice?

RandyGG,

Kali themselves recommend that their OS is NOT used as a permanently installed, everyday system:

http://docs.kali.org/introduction/sh...use-kali-linux

It is recommended that Kali is used either via a live USB drive or by virtualization inside your main operating system (Mint, Debian, Ubuntu etc).

This detailed guide from blackMORE Ops uses VirtualBox:

http://www.blackmoreops.com/2014/04/...on-virtualbox/


For more information on main Linux OSs have a look at the various reviews on Distrowatch, Dedoimedo, Linuxed etc.

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computer_software.html#linux

http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.co.uk/

Redhat or Fedora, opensuse, debian and slackware and may be more are traditional. Ubuntu is new.

just use MINT !

http://www.linuxmint.com/

:hattip:

Use whatever the hell you want to use and take fanboys like ubuntuites and archers with a grain of salt.
FYI: Slackware is the oldest extant distro; look up the package inxi and please use its edited output to include in your posts.
Welcome!

Kali is not usually installed because it's intended for a specific purpose, but there's no reason why you shouldn't install it to tinker with and see what it does.

From the point of view of commercial use (you say you're studying IT), the kings are Red Hat and SUSE if you need paid support, CentOS and Debian Stable if you don't.

Debian is the basis of the majority of distros, including Ubuntu, because of its vast repository. Ubuntu is not really "traditional" — the Unity GUI makes it look as if the computer has turned into a phone in the night! Debian au naturel is quite good, and Mint is the best "domesticated" version.

OpenSUSE and CentOS have some similarity, both using the same package management, and both best with the Gnome or KDE desktops. If you get CentOS, don't get the latest (version 7) as the third-party repositories are not really ready yet.

Arch is interesting, and the documentation is probably the best of any distro. But it's bleeding-edge and sometimes has a hissy fit after an update, while installation can take all day. Manjaro is the best derivative.

Slackware is stable and reliable, but often uses technologies that other distros have abandoned (though they're perfectly good ones), so Slackware experience is not always portable. Salix adds several hundred extra programs and some useful tools.

PCLinuxOS is another independent distro. If Debian, SUSE, and CentOS are enterprise-oriented, and Arch and Slackware are enthusiast-oriented, then PCLinuxOS is unashamedly aimed at the family computer. And it's the only Linux with a monthly magazine!

Hello and good afternoon!

I have a few of those in a sandbox, openSUSE, Slackware, CentOS, Gentoo, Kali and a couple others; but i have not played with Mint yet. Thanks for the Kali link, if any majpr issues ill just scrub the partition. I know Ubunyu and Mint are both good recommendations, i just never really thought of Mint. I'll install it today in VB and play around with it. So far i like them all, but some are a little more challenging for me. Kali has to become a common for me due to the field im entering.

I love this site! So many ppl with hands on experience with all these distros!

~cheers

Thanks a ton! I have both openSUSE and CentOS installed and i like how clean they both are but SUSE 13.2 had me pulling my hair oit with theor networkmanager (not yast) the other day, i have to dive in to those today for another assignment.